The federal poverty level is ‘antiquated.’ Here’s a modern look at livable wages in Macon

Financial strife looks different for every individual. It doesn’t always mean living out of a car or frequenting a local soup kitchen. 

The reality is, financial hardship can be hard to spot. It could be your neighbor who has a steady job but can’t afford their daughter’s medical bills or your coworker who is struggling to scrape together enough money for car repairs. 

For Veronica Benitez, it was finding a way to afford childcare while holding down multiple jobs.

After graduating from high school in the mid-2000s, Benitez, a first generation Mexican American, left Macon. For the next 10 years, she lived in Atlanta and Chicago, working 14-to-16-hour days, juggling two-to-three jobs at once.

In 2016, she returned to Macon in order to be closer to family, but everything changed when she had her first child in 2017, a son named Daniel.

“Working wasn’t as easy for me then anymore because before I could just be like, ‘Okay, I could work until two in the morning,’’ she said. “Now I’m like, ‘I need to find a sitter.’’ 

Benitez moved in with her brother and took a year off from work. She tried to return to work at a restaurant the following summer but couldn’t keep up the hours while also caring for her son. In addition, the cost of childcare was almost as much as she would have been making at her job. 

Misunderstanding poverty

The federal poverty level (FPL) for a family of four in 2024 is $31,200, and the total poverty rate in the United States is 11.5%, as of 2022.

But there is a growing number of folks just like Benitez who live above the poverty line but still struggle to make ends meet.

The United Way of New Jersey began examining this group — those getting by in the gap between the poverty line and financial stability — 15 years ago when the organization developed the ALICE program. 

ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. These folks are employed and have an income above the federal poverty line but don’t have the means to save up. It only takes one financial disaster, such as a broken down car or an unexpected medical expense, to cause a domino effect of financial instability for ALICE individuals.

The federal poverty measurements are “antiquated,” George McCanless, president of United Way of Central Georgia, explained. 

The FPL isn’t adjusted for cost of living in a particular region, whereas the ALICE livable wage is adjustable based on county and household type. 

More than half of the 50 states have adopted the ALICE framework, with Georgia being the 29th state to adopt ALICE. 

“Between 2021 and 2022, the number of households in poverty in Georgia decreased by 15,895 (down to 13% of all households). Yet at the same time, the number of ALICE households increased by 65,894,” according to a 2024 ALICE Update report.

Only two states in the entire country have more ALICE households than Georgia. 

The ALICE Research Center collects and analyzes data, such as the “Household Survival Budget,” which consists of eight key categories: housing, child care, food, transportation, healthcare, technology, miscellaneous (unanticipated) costs and taxes. 

In Georgia, a household of two adults, one infant and one preschooler would need $76,200 annually (with tax credits), according to the research center’s household survival budget for 2022. 

In Bibb County, a household of two adults and two in child care would need an annual total of $78,456. 

The “ALICE Threshold” is the minimum average income needed for a household to afford the survival budget in any given area. This includes those below the poverty line and those in the ALICE category

For Macon, 35% of the 62,061 households are ALICE, while 22% live in poverty. This means 57% of all Bibb County households live below the ALICE threshold.

Black households in Bibb have the highest rate of ALICE households, with 13,972 ALICE households out of a total 31,680 Black households in the county, or 44%. In contrast, there are 7,117 white households in the ALICE category out of 23,024 total white households, 0r 31%.

“We have all these people, all these essential workers — school teachers, child care workers, emergency responders, nurses – a lot of jobs can make less than that ALICE livable wage,” McCanless said. “They’re one expense away from having, basically, a financial crisis.”

Not used to asking for help

Many believe if you can’t see the struggle, then it’s not there, Benitez told The Melody, but a lot of ALICE folks are hard-working middle class families who just aren’t used to asking for help.

Benitez wasn’t ready to seek assistance until after her daughter, Cassie, was born in 2020. She was still living with her brother and had used up most of her savings. 

Every three months, she received diapers and clothing from Family Advancement Ministries (FAM) in downtown Macon, but Benitez needed more support.

She made several calls to local organizations, but none of them could help her. 

It wasn’t until she reached out to United Way’s 211 Contact Center to ask for diapers that she received the necessary support. 211 connects those in need with community resources, job opportunities and healthcare.

Benitez soon found herself visiting the United Way of Central Georgia office to pick up diapers, some clothing and a bag of books for her kids. 

From there, she joined United Way’s First Steps program, which helps soon-to-be parents or parents of a child under five. 

Benitez participated in parent-teacher educator visits, facilitated by the First Steps program. A parent-teacher educator would visit her home and discuss the baby’s growth, development and any concerns. The educator even talked with Benitez about her own goals and motivation.

Like many ALICE parents, Benitez found it challenging to think about the long-term future when she didn’t have financial stability. 

“As a parent, you don’t really think about yourself. You think about the kids, what do they need?” she said. “It’s more kind of surviving, trying to figure out what you can do for them.”

It’s easy to get stuck on the immediate stressor, like needing diapers or food. 

For United Way, the ALICE program isn’t just about providing folks with short-term relief, but focuses, instead, on longer-term financial
stability.

“Throwing money at problems, many times, is not the best solution,” said McCanless. “If we want to have the community that we all really want to have, then we’ve got to help these families become financially stable.” 

Helping others

There are two things that Benitez wants to pass on to her son Daniel: an understanding of financial literacy — something she never had growing up — and fluency in Spanish, a way of embracing their family heritage.

“I don’t want him to grow up struggling, like me,” she said, hoping she has shown her kids that hard work does pay off. 

Despite her newfound financial stability, Benitez still keeps busy. 

She has worked for FAM — the same organization that helped her family — since 2023. 

After volunteering as an interpreter at some First Steps pop-up events, United Way offered her a job as a site coordinator for their Read United program. As a site coordinator, she visits several schools throughout Bibb, Houston and Twiggs counties to tutor young students in reading every week. 

When Benitez isn’t working with FAM or tutoring, she does banquet serving on the weekends.

She credits United Way with motivating her to strive for more, both for herself and her family. She wants to do the same for others and is already showing her son the value of volunteering. 

“Once I got the help and I got myself situated, I wanted to do that for other families,” she said, noting that she often takes her son with her to volunteer. 

For example, Benitez volunteers with FAM to teach other moms how to properly install car seats. There are resources that folks don’t even know exist, until they really need them, she asserted, but knowing what help is out there could change their path. 

She reflected on her childhood as a first generation Mexican American who moved to Macon from California in the second grade. Her mother didn’t speak English so she often translated for her during school meetings. The language barrier made it difficult to find resources, so Benitez wants to make sure others have that support system.

“I can see, sometimes, the worry in some of the moms. I could tell they’re just so stressed out or they’re so worried about how are they going to pay or get things for their children?” Benitez said. “I always let them know. It’s going to be okay.”

For more information on ALICE visit unitedforalice.org/state-overview/Georgia