As food, gas and other prices rise, the impact hits home: A new report from the United Way of Rhode Island reveals nearly 43% of households in the state can’t afford basic expenses.
Ocean State Media producer Joe Tasca spoke with United Way of Rhode Island President and CEO Cortney Nicolato to learn more about the extent to which everyday Rhode Islanders experience the rising cost of living.
Interview highlights
On the ALICE in Rhode Island report
Cortney Nicolato: ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. Forty-three percent, in fact, of Rhode Island families live in ALICE or below in Rhode Island. And these are families who are working multiple jobs and are working their tails off to support their families and cannot make it work. The math doesn't math for, unfortunately, far too many Rhode Islanders…
The median family income here in Rhode Island is $86,000. What they need is $111,000 a year to survive. The big challenge is that (costs and incomes) aren't matching. Wages that we've seen over the last few years have stayed relatively flat, but costs have risen dramatically. And the ALICE calculation contains and includes things like cell phones, energy costs — all those things that have risen over the last few years. With regards to ranking against other states, there's 41 states who are participating in this ALICE (data). The national average of ALICE is about 39% and we're 43% to give some context.
On the types of workers who are struggling to make ends meet in Rhode Island
Nicolato: As an example, 76% of our childcare workers — these are our workers preparing and caring for our children — cannot make the math work. And it's the same as we think about folks that might be in manufacturing; folks that might be in the service industry, like retail banking as an example; cooks at our restaurants; (they) all fall into the purview. And where would Rhode Island be without them? I'm not really sure.
On why Black and Hispanic Rhode Islanders are especially impacted by rising costs
Nicolato: Well, I think the unfortunate reality is marginalized communities are often affected the worst. The data here shows that many of our Black and Hispanic communities are in the industries that are affected by ALICE households. They may hold entry-level positions, they may serve in the service industry, amongst others. And so the unfortunate reality is that we continue to see an equity gap between our communities of color and our white community across the country, but specifically here in Rhode Island.
On what the state can do to help working families
Nicolato: I think that there's a lot of things that the state can do to really evaluate how they are contributing to the challenges of ALICE households, and we talk to them regularly about it. On the energy crisis as an example, I do believe that there is a systemic issue that needs to be addressed. We've been having conversations with the state, with energy partners and others to come together and say, "What can we do different to support families?" One could be a power plant here in the state, as an example, but finding those solutions is what United Way does all the time. We have an empowerment center... We support families through an 18-month process from everything to meeting their most basic needs today to financially coaching, getting savings over time and supporting them. That's what we need to be able to do for all of ALICE families…
I think we’re on a slippery slope. I would like to see legislators look at this report and really lean into its message, which is we cannot make the easy stuff hard for Rhode Island families. We have to understand the magnitude of the decisions on things like taxes and how that affects Rhode Island families because it is significant. We have lots of ALICE families who are also running small businesses, and we have one of the most challenging tax programs for corporations here in the state. These are the types of things that we can really lean into and look at as part of the report.
