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August 27, 2018

Report: CT’s cost of living too high for 40% of households

HBJ File Photo A home under construction in Southington.
By Joe Cooper

Connecticut’s high costs of living are taking a major bite out of family earnings.

A new report says 40 percent of Connecticut households are earning less than what is needed to run a family: housing, health care, food, child care, technology and transportation.

The Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed (ALICE) report by Connecticut United Ways says 30 percent of families (404,035) earn more than the federal poverty line but under a basic cost-of-living threshold. These households are known as ALICE.

Including households living in poverty, 40 percent (538,529) of Connecticut families are unable to afford housing, food, health care, child care, technology and transportation, according to the report, which draws from the U.S. Census and the American Community Survey.

Connecticut families must earn almost $78,000 a year to run a household of four including one infant and one toddler.

In each Connecticut municipality, the report found that at least 10 percent of families are ALICE households even though 55 percent of jobs in the state pay at least $20 per hour or more -- the highest in the nation.

Meantime, about half of families do not have enough savings to cover living expenses if they were to endure an unexpected expense such as illness, appliance replacement or major car repair.

The report was funded by 16 United Ways in Connecticut.

Click here for more on the ALICE report.

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