Partner with United Way to build systems that get families to the incomes they need.
In January, United Way for Greater Austin hosted the Family-Sustaining Income Summit, where we highlighted a persistent challenge in how we design and implement economic mobility programs, systems, and initiatives in our area. The data we commonly use to inform upward mobility opportunities does not reflect what families actually need to be stable.
Poverty measures, like Federal Poverty Level (FPL), are used to evaluate household needs and set eligibility for government and nonprofit assistance. A household income of 100% FPL defines households living in poverty and 200% FPL is classified as low-income. Most government and nonprofit support systems are designed to phase out around these household income levels. However, because the Greater Austin area has a higher cost of living than other parts of the country and because the FPL has not meaningfully changed in decades, FPL is greatly undercounting the number of households actually struggling to make ends meet. Poverty measures show us what households are potentially in crisis and eligible for public assistance programs, but not the entirety of households struggling to make ends meet.
Family-sustaining income measures calculate the income families actually need to be able to pay their bills, send their children to high-quality child care, and save for emergencies. This is the income families need to be stable, and beyond that, to thrive.
The ALICE dataset is a family-sustaining income measure used by United Way that makes visible the thousands of families in our area that often don’t qualify for assistance programs, but still aren’t earning enough to be stable. These families are making impossible choices every day – like whether to stay home with children or earn a second income, whether to get health coverage or pay the utility bill, whether to have a car payment or spend 3 hours a day commuting to work. And they’re doing this all while filling essential roles in our economy, like teaching, construction, and manufacturing. Too often, these families are not counted when we’re building economic mobility programs, pathways, and initiatives.
The ALICE survival budget reflects the minimum cost to live and work in today’s economy. The ALICE stability budget incorporates the higher costs for maintaining a more financially stable household over time. The household stability budget for a family of four with two children in child care in Travis County is 5x the federal poverty level and 2.5x the low-income threshold—where most programs end their support.
Almost a quarter of Travis County households don’t classify as living in poverty, but aren’t earning enough to make ends meet. In total, 33% of Travis County households earn an income that does not meet their budget needs.
When agencies, nonprofits, funders, educational institutions, employers, and other strategic partners don’t use family-sustaining income measures to design solutions, we mistakenly build workforce pathways that don’t extend to family-sustaining wages and cut support systems off before families are able to stand on their own. This simple gap in data jeopardizes the stability of families, public safety nets, employers, and our overall economy.
United Way for Greater Austin is launching a year-long initiative to increase and maximize the use of family-sustaining income data. We’re providing better data to strategic partners and cross-sector economic mobility efforts, making visible families that are too often left behind, and getting all of us one step closer to our North Star Goal to see 70% of households earning above family-sustaining income by 2030.
What We’re Doing
The January Summit brought together 45 strategic partners, including funders, nonprofits, business owners, public agencies, and educational institutions. Together these partners outlined 78 short-term and 46 long-term goals for integrating family-sustaining income measures into their work.
Early analysis of these goals shows broad applications for family-sustaining income data:
- Embed into Organizational Practice & Messaging through grantmaking strategies, data dashboards, needs assessments, and general talking points
- Advance Policy & Systems Change through revised public assistance eligibility and benefits cliff reform
- Build a Coordinated, Cross-Sector Ecosystem with shared data, aligned programs, and common household income goals
- Strengthen Workforce, Child Care & Family Support Pathways through a deeper understanding of what families need and for how long
United Way is committed to keeping up the momentum and stewarding your goals. We’ll be working closely with strategic partners over the next year to:
- Conduct 1:1 and group technical assistance sessions with partners on ALICE data tools
- Gather data on how partners are using family-sustaining income data and identify the gaps
- Listen and learn alongside partners to identify innovative applications of family-sustaining income data
- Release a report in 2027 with key findings of the initiative, case studies of local partners, and recommendations for how various sectors can continue to leverage family-sustaining income data
What You Can Do
At United Way, we know collective action works. Small steps taken by an aligned group of people and driven by a common vision are what leads to systems change.
Most of the people reading this post likely influence something that impacts families–whether that’s running a nonprofit program, managing a funding portfolio, setting public policy, designing upskilling partnerships, or owning a local business. And we invite you to join us in this effort.
Getting started is simple. Take some time to learn more about ALICE. Use the phrase “family-sustaining income” in your work. Talk to your strategic partners about how far the support systems the families you work with extend, or how far their upskilling pathways go.
And partner with United Way. We want to know what you’re working on, how this challenges you, and where this initiative can go. We’re here to help.
Sign up for technical assistance to get direct support from United Way on using ALICE tools and incorporating ALICE data into your work. Or reach out directly to Becca Bice to learn more about this initiative and your part in it.
Thank you for joining us in this bold vision for our community. We’re excited to work alongside all of you.