KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Low wage growth and inflation are being blamed for keeping over one-third of Kalamazoo County residents barely above the poverty line.
The latest United Way ALICE report, which stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, shows 38% of Kalamazoo County residents meet that description. Officials says they are basically people who are above the poverty level but are still barely able to scrape by.
Natalie Ohagan, senior director of strategy and innovation for United Way, told Fox 17 , “Wages have gone up but they’ve not gone up enough to account for things like inflation. People’s cost of living has increased and we’ve not been able to account for that.”
The percentage of ALICE households is highest in Galesburg and the city of Kalamazoo. The report says Black families account for a disproportionate number of people living below the ALICE threshold, and age is also a factor, with 70% of residents 25 and under living at or below the ALICE level.
The United Way says the data in the latest report comes from 2022.
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