The whole community benefits when more working individuals and families are able to stop walking a financial tightrope and get on solid ground. That’s why we focus on lasting solutions that go beyond charity, because financially stable people are more likely to have access to quality heath care, provide a good education for their children, and contribute to their local economies.

United Way’s economic mobility goal is to ensure that individuals and families improve their socio-economic status. Economic mobility, or the ability of an individual or family to change their financial status, can have a multi-generational, positive impact on overall well-being by increasing access to quality healthcare, improving housing options, and broadening educational opportunities. Yet, moving up the economic ladder is difficult. Education that leads to a good job is essential.

Chronic unemployment. Financial illiteracy. Homelessness. In communities around the world, individuals and families are facing financial obstacles that prevent a good quality of life.

Across Wisconsin, over a third of households struggle to afford the basic necessities of housing, child care, health care, food, and transportation. 

2018 United Way ALICE Report

Despite recent reports of overall improvement in employment and gains in median incomes, the economic recovery in Wisconsin has been uneven. Many families continue to face challenges from low wages, depleted savings, and the increasing cost of basic household goods. The total number of Wisconsin households that cannot afford basic needs increased 5 percent between 2010 and 2016.

This Report also shows what has changed in Wisconsin since the first United Way ALICE Report for Wisconsin was published two years ago. It updates the cost of basic needs in the Household Survival Budget for each county in Wisconsin, and the number of households earning below the amount needed to afford that budget (the ALICE Threshold). The Report delves deeper into county and municipal data and looks at the demographics of ALICE and poverty-level households by race/ethnicity, age, and household type to reveal variations in hardship that are often masked by state averages. Finally, the Report highlights emerging trends that will affect ALICE households in the future

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