A picture of Indiana’s working poor. LEFT: Poverty data from the U.S. Census Bureau give an idea of financial needs in the state of Indiana. But those data do not paint a true picture of the financial struggles facing Hoosiers. RIGHT: United Way's report shows that the working poor — or ALICE households — often are overlooked. These are families that have jobs but don't make enough to save money. (Photo: Catherine Pomieko/Gannett)
A picture of Indiana’s working poor. LEFT: Poverty data from the U.S. Census Bureau give an idea of financial needs in the state of Indiana. But those data do not paint a true picture of the financial struggles facing Hoosiers. RIGHT: United Way's report shows that the working poor — or ALICE households — often are overlooked. These are families that have jobs but don't make enough to save money. (Photo: Catherine Pomieko/Gannett)
At a glance
What is ALICE?

ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed households. Essentially they are the working poor — those who are employed but don't make enough to save money to cushion themselves against crises such as a job loss or injury.

"ALICE households are working households and pay taxes; they hold jobs and provide services that are vital to the Indiana economy in a variety of positions such as retail salespeople, laborers and movers, team assemblers, and nursing assistants. The core issue is that these jobs do not pay enough to afford the basics of housing, child care, food, health care, and transportation." — United Way 2014 ALICE Report

Who is ALICE?

In Tippecanoe County, there are 67,977 total households, 28,722 of which — or 42 percent — fall below the ALICE threshold.

In the six states in which an ALICE study has been completed:

•Workers between ages 25 and 64 make up the largest segment of households.

•Senior citizens are more likely to qualify as ALICE households.

•ALICE households are more likely to be white.

•Most ALICE households have children.

•Young veterans are most at risk of being in poverty or ALICE households.

How much do you need to survive in Tippecanoe County?

Using government data, the report compiled this survival budget which shows the minimum amount of money required of a single adult or a family of four in Tippecanoe County.

Housing: $501/$727

Child care: $0/$1099

Food: $170/$515

Transportation: $341/$681

Health care: $130/$518

Miscellaneous: $133/$387

Taxes: $186/$333

Monthly total: $1,461/$4,261

Full-time hourly wage required to survive: $9/$26

ANNUAL TOTAL: $17,526/$51,128

Federal poverty level for those family sizes: $11,170/$23,050

Source: United Way 2014 ALICE Report, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Internal Revenue Service and ChildCare Aware, U.S. Census Bureau.

Statewide rankings

Tippecanoe County ranks 12th out of 92 Indiana counties for the highest percentage of households struggling financially. Here's the breakdown for Indiana's highest ranking counties.

County

Percent struggling

Struggling

Number of households

Monroe

49.05%

26,474

53,974

Wayne

47.66%

13,272

27,849

Delaware

46.77%

21,782

46,572

Henry

45.01%

8,176

18,164

Starke

44.89%

4,079

9,087

Marion

44.74%

162,490

363,157

Fayette

44.36%

4,199

9,466

Scott

43.63%

3,897

8,932

Howard

42.47%

14,398

33,901

Jefferson

42.34%

5,362

12,664

Vanderburgh

42.32%

31,458

74,334

Tippecanoe

42.25%

28,722

67,977

Source: United Way 2014 ALICE Report
The foreclosure notices started arriving at the Cooper family's Battle Ground home in December 2013.

At that point, Lisa Cooper had spent an agonizing eight months wrangling with the family's mortgage company, trying to explain that her husband had inhaled a half cup of sawdust chippings in a workplace injury, sidelining him from work and halting the family's income.

"I just felt hopeless," Cooper said. "Our mortgage company had their attorneys ready to kick us out of our home."

John Cooper was chainsawing a tree limb without wearing a mask. When the wind shifted, the chainsaw's back feed went straight into his lungs.

"I had three doctors tell me my husband was lucky to be alive," Lisa Cooper said. "His lungs were 80 percent filled with carbon dioxide."

John Cooper made about $17 an hour full time before the accident, his wife said. It was enough to get by, but the family didn't have enough left over to put aside emergency savings in anticipation of such an injury.

While her husband remained in a medically induced coma, Lisa Cooper, unable to work due to her own medical issues, found the family's home of 22 years in jeopardy.

The Coopers aren't alone. Scores of Tippecanoe County residents are employed but struggling to make ends meet. A single crisis — a medical emergency or a lost job — can plunge them into poverty, foreclosure or homelessness.

A report from the Indiana Association of United Ways, released late last year, for the first time puts that population into perspective.

The report explores "ALICE" households — those that are Asset Limited, Income Constrained and Employed. In other words, they're the working poor, the ones with income coming in but not enough to cushion them against unforeseen circumstances.
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