Sen. Gordon Responds to CT United Way 2024 ALICE Report Update

October 9, 2024

Sen. Gordon: More work to be done to make Connecticut more affordable for families.

 

State Sen. Jeff Gordon (R-Woodstock) today responded to the Connecticut United Way’s 2024 ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) Report Update that revealed an uptick in the state’s households either in poverty or below the ALICE Threshold for financial survival between 2021 and 2022.

 

“The United Way’s latest ALICE update is yet another sobering reminder that Connecticut can and must do better for hundreds of thousands of households in poverty or struggling financially to make ends meet. Our state’s high cost of living is a plague on hardworking residents, families, businesses, and seniors. Skyrocketing energy prices underscore and worsen this condition.

 

“I’ve been committed to offering and supporting policies that would make Connecticut more affordable for more people. I worked to cut the state’s income tax and to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit. I am working to drive down the cost of electricity and energy, reduce the cost of medications and health insurance, make housing affordability attainable, improve educational opportunities at public colleges and universities in Connecticut, and create more good-paying jobs. These policies are what is needed to make our state affordable and reverse this alarming trend of economic hardship. The solutions are there, and there is more work to be done to make them a reality. I look forward to continuing that work to empower residents in the 35th District and across Connecticut,” he said.

 

The United Way categorizes ALICE households as those that earn more than the Federal Poverty Level, but less than the basic costs of living for the county (the ALICE Threshold). Households below the ALICE Threshold cannot afford the basics in the communities where they live.

 

According to the Connecticut United Way’s recent report, between 2021 and 2022, the number of households in poverty in Connecticut increased by 1,145 (to 11% of all households) and the number of ALICE households increased by 9,657 (to 29% of all households), continuing a decade-long trend in the growth of this population. In 2022, of the 1,430,904 households in Connecticut, 563,512 — 39% — were below the ALICE Threshold.