INTRODUCTION: A TALE OF TWO PANDEMICS There are many emerging stories about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. over the past 18 months. Some are stories of job loss, rising food insecurity, housing instability, and health concerns.1 Others point to an economy in full recovery — new businesses opening at a record rate, household debt at a near low, savings rates and home prices rising, and the stock market at an all-time high.2 All of these stories are true. The highs and lows of the pandemic have been experienced very differently across the U.S. population — and initial reports indicate that a key differentiator is income.3 United For ALICE, a driver of research, innovation, and action on financial hardship in the U.S., shines a light on the challenges of ALICE: Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed — households that struggle to make ends meet and have little or no savings, but often make too much to qualify for public assistance. The ALICE Threshold of Financial Survival draws a line between survival (the bare minimum needed to live and work in the modern economy) and stability; it is based on the ALICE Household Survival Budget (the lowest-cost options for housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, and a smartphone plan for all household types in each U.S. county). Many of the economic indicators that are used to guide policy are averages of households at all income levels. These averages conceal the harsh realities millions of families faced during the pandemic. By contrast, the ALICE Threshold delineates two categories of households that experienced the pandemic in very different ways: • Below the ALICE Threshold: households with income that is too low to cover the Household Survival Budget for their household type in the counties where they live. This group includes ALICE households and households with income below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). • Above the ALICE Threshold: households with income greater than the cost of the Survival Budget for their household type in the counties where they live. Using the ALICE Threshold as its framework, this Report analyzes three nationally representative surveys about household experiences during COVID-19, as well as findings from a series of non-representative local ALICE COVID-19 Impact Surveys:
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• Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED) • University of Southern California’s Understanding America Study’s Understanding Coronavirus in America survey (UAS COVID survey) • U.S. Census Bureau’s COVID-19 Household Pulse Survey (Household Pulse Survey) • United For ALICE’s COVID-19 Impact Surveys conducted with state and local partners (United For ALICE Surveys)
Together, the survey results show that households below the ALICE Threshold fared significantly worse than households above the Threshold — financially, physically, and emotionally — during the pandemic.”
Together, the survey results show that households below the ALICE Threshold fared significantly worse than households above the Threshold — financially, physically, and emotionally — during the pandemic. Even with the added protective measures of eviction moratoria and housing and food assistance programs, conditions worsened for households below the ALICE Threshold from March 2020 to May 2021.
ALICE NATIONAL COVID SURVEY REPORT
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OCTOBER 2021
