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United Way tells Senate finance committee nearly half of Tennessee households fall below ALICE threshold; pitches 2‑1‑1, employer partnerships
Summary
United Way of Greater Chattanooga briefed the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee on ALICE research showing working families struggling to meet basic costs and described expansion plans for 2‑1‑1, employer engagement and whole‑family programs.
United Way of Greater Chattanooga presented ALICE research to the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee, saying a substantial share of Tennessee households are asset‑limited, income‑constrained and employed (ALICE) and urging policy and private‑sector steps to reduce cost burdens for working families.
“ALICE is an acronym that stands for asset limited, meaning Alice has no safety net in a time of crisis. Income constrained…and the E stands for employed,” Leslie Scarce, chief executive officer of United Way of Greater Chattanooga, told the committee. Scarce said United Way analysis finds roughly 44% of Tennessee households fall below the ALICE threshold.
Scarce and Vice President Taryn Anderson told senators that ALICE households face persistent tradeoffs — food versus utilities, childcare versus rent — and that standard federal poverty measures understate local hardship because they do not reflect local housing, childcare and transportation costs. The United Way presented local data for Hamilton and neighboring counties and said county‑level ALICE dashboards and an updated statewide release were imminent.
The presentation described three concrete areas of work: strengthening the statewide 2‑1‑1 information and referral system, expanding “whole family” or two‑generation services that combine child‑ and family‑focused supports, and partnering with employers on benefits and workplace practices under an “ALICE at Work” model. Scarce noted that, in Hamilton County alone, local 2‑1‑1 handled roughly 73,000 calls for help last year and that the top needs reported were food, utilities and housing.
Senators asked about coverage and local partnerships. Scarce said 2‑1‑1 reaches all 95 counties but that local awareness is uneven; she described work to connect local 2‑1‑1s through shared technology and community resource databases. She said pilots with employers and local training programs (TCATs) were already underway and that United Way is providing direct assistance and capacity grants to local nonprofits.
The committee thanked the United Way presenters and returned to other business.
