Jun 26, 2018 2 min read

We pointed out in an editorial last Friday that the minimum wage is not cutting it for workers across Pennsylvania, particularly since it has not been boosted in the commonwealth for 11 years. This means that, as the editorial stated, “someone working in a minimum-wage job in this state could put in a full day’s labor, and after taxes and other deductions, not make enough that day to fill the gas tank on their vehicle.”

Despite the relatively good news about the economy in recent months, not everyone is fully benefiting from it, and that’s a point driven home by an 18-state study by the United Way on households with breadwinners who are bringing home paychecks, but are still struggling.

Christened with the acronym ALICE for people who are “Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed,” it found that a little more than 50 million U.S. households cannot afford to cover such necessities as child care, medical expenses and rent, and that includes 34 million families that earn more than the federal poverty level of $20,780 for a family of three. People who carry out necessary jobs like home health care aides and child care workers are part of this cohort.

In Washington County, according to the study, 37 percent of households live below the ALICE threshold. In Greene County, it’s 45 percent. Fayette County is the hardest hit county in the commonwealth, with 51 percent of households below the threshold.

The United Way of Northern New Jersey spearheaded the study, because “the magnitude of financial instability in this country has been understated and obscured by misleading averages and outdated poverty calculations,” according to John Franklin, the branch’s CEO.

He added, “It is morally unacceptable and economically unsustainable for our country to have so many hardworking families living paycheck to paycheck.”

It is. The United Way is to be commended for releasing a study that makes clear the extent of the problem.