Report: 1 in 4 Hoosier households struggle with necessities, despite employment
In 2023, 29 percent of Hoosiers working the state’s most common jobs struggled to afford basic necessities. That’s according to a new United Way report. Some of these jobs include nursing assistants, cashiers and teachers. The report highlights the potential economic impact these workers experience.
The report focuses on households that are asset-limited, income-constrained and employed. This means these families earn more than the federal poverty line — but not enough to afford basic expenses like rent, transportation and child care. In Indiana, that’s about 1 in 4 households, according to the report.
Denise Luster is the chief strategic intelligence and information officer at United Way of Central Indiana. She said wages largely haven’t kept up with the increased cost of living. And despite these low wages these workers often don’t qualify for supplemental assistance.
“Many of them don’t qualify for additional assistance, so they’re the ones going to food banks and things like that, because they don’t qualify, because they may make a quarter—50 cents over the threshold for additional assistance,” Luster said.
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Luster said these workers play an essential part in how the economy functions yet they continue to be paid less. The data shows that in 2023, 14 out of the 20 most common occupations in Indiana are paid less than $20 an hour.
“It is deeply disturbing how our economy relies on this population, yet we don’t recognize what this population is facing every single day,” Luster said.
The report estimates that if all Hoosier households in 2023 had enough to afford their basic needs, it would have created more than $25 billion in economic activity for Indiana.
Timoria is our labor and employment reporter. Contact her at [email protected].
