April was celebrated as National Volunteer Appreciation Month and associate director Laura Schultz Pipis of the United Way of Monroe/Lenawee County, takes a look at some facts and figures when it comes to volunteers.
By Laura Schultz Pipis
You may have seen the recent news release and article on the latest 2021 United Way ALICE report about Michigan’s working families, known as ALICE households Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.
Of Michigan’s 3,963,558 households, 504,237 (13%) earned below the federal poverty level in 2019, and another 1,004,047 (25%) were under the ALICE threshold. According to a data point new to this year’s report, an additional 10% of households in Michigan were on the cusp of the ALICE threshold in 2019, with 236,620 households just one income bracket away.
For Lenawee County, the data mirrored the statewide statistics.
The new ALICE findings showed 38% of households in Lenawee County still struggled to make ends meet in 2019, prior to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. In 2017, 37% of households in Lenawee County struggled financially. Both figures are significantly up from pre-recession levels 28% in 2007.