Nearly 30% of Maine households are struggling to keep up with basic expenses like housing, child care, food and health care, according to a new report from the United Ways of Maine.
In Maine, a family of four with two working adults needed just more than $91,000 to cover basic expenses in 2023. The measure is known as ALICE, or Asset-Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, which indicates the average income that a household needs to afford basic expenses such as housing, food, health care, transportation and child care.
These households are often overlooked, because their income is more than the federal poverty level of about $30,000, but it doesn't cover the essentials.
"These workers tend to be the backbone of our community," said Dan Coyne, president and CEO of the United Way of Southern Maine. "We called them heroes during the pandemic. They're personal care aides, teaching assistants and so on."
The increasing costs of rent and housing are one of the biggest burdens on the average Maine household.
"It is often and almost always the highest cost. We often say that rent eats first, and so as families think about the rest of their expenses to be able to be housed, it usually goes to that rent check first," Coyne said.
All told, 40% Mainers either fall below the federal poverty level or the ALICE threshold. The data reflect a slight improvement since the ALICE threshold was last measured for 2021, Coyne said, with a total of 42% of Maine households falling below the federal poverty line or ALICE threshold.
But he adds that overall, the number of Maine ALICE households has grown over the last 15 years.
