<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2YlGRa_1FUQLRk100" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2YlGRa_1FUQLRk100" width="1766" height="1174" ><figcaption>Magnific</figcaption></figure>United Way of the National Capital Area (United Way NCA) is taking action to help combat financial hardship in Fairfax County, after the latest data showed that one-third of households face financial strain despite full-time employment.Serving 18 jurisdictions throughout Northern Virginia, including Fairfax County, Washington, D.C., and Southern Maryland, United Way NCA strengthens local communities through investments in the community, placing special emphasis on Title I schools, which receive federal funding to support students from low-income households.“Everything that we do is meant to serve and better the outcomes of ALICE households,” said Nicole Cooper, PhD, chief External Affairs and Transformation Officer for United Way NCA.The acronym ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, which is used to describe people who struggle to make ends meet while employed. United For ALICE is a project that researches the number of households facing financial hardship across the country. ALICE households earn above the Federal Poverty Line (FPL), but still struggle to pay for household essentials. As of 2024, 21% of Fairfax households were at the ALICE threshold, and 5% were at the poverty level.“It’s quite outdated to really measure hardship, financial hardship and social hardship in our country,” said Cooper. “[...] Because of that, United Way created the household survival budget and the ALICE threshold.”ALICE data includes households living below the ALICE threshold and the FPL, providing a broader and more accurate scope of financial hardship in the country. In 2024, ALICE data showed that 22,582 Fairfax households were living below the FPL and 87,796 were living below the ALICE threshold.According to Fairfax County’s Draft 2025 Human Services Fact Sheet, 6% of Fairfax County residents made less than 100% of the FPL in 2023, which was $14,580 for an individual or $30,000 for a family of four. The report also acknowledged that basic living costs were far higher, and that the income needed was closer to $60,800 for an individual and over $150,000 for a family of four.The rising cost of household essentials, including housing, food, transportation, and healthcare, is what leads households below the ALICE threshold. According to Keith Waters, Ph. D., the assistant director of the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason, wages have been rising since 2020, but this number has not been adjusted for inflation.The basic cost of living in the U.S., as determined by ALICE data, varies by household type. Calculations of this basic cost, derived from the costs of housing, childcare, food, transportation, healthcare, technology, taxes, and other miscellaneous costs, range from an annual total of $52,416 for a single adult to $106,908 for the average two-adult, two-child family. These numbers reflect Fairfax County’s calculations for similar demographics.United Way NCA uses ALICE data for its designated region to decide where to invest, such as which schools to partner with or where to build financial empowerment centers that provide financial resources and counseling. One is located on Richmond Highway in Alexandria. They are also currently partnered with Walt Whitman Middle School, which is a part of Fairfax County Public Schools.The ALICE data is also used in the organization’s new strategic plan, in which they will identify Community Impact Zones to invest their resources.“We’re specifically looking at the top 10 most in need ZIP codes, not only based on ALICE data, but many other local and federal metrics around levels of homelessness, food insecurity, health insurance rates, and other measures that really help us to hone in specifically on need,” said Cooper.Cooper identifies ZIP codes as important metrics for measuring ALICE households because, according to her, “broad economic development doesn’t work” isn’t a good metric. The Community Impact Zones have not yet been finalized, but she estimates that there will be one in or near Fairfax County.Cooper estimates that the number of ALICE households has stayed steady in the past two years, but the data does not yet account for the reduction in the federal workforce. Regarding future ALICE data to be released next year, United Way NCA officials anticipate more households will fall below the ALICE threshold.“The impacts of DOGE [...] it’s one of, if not the biggest negative shock that our region has had in terms of total employment over the last, basically 100 years,” said Waters, referring to the Department of Governmental Efficiency and mass firings of federal employees in 2025.According to Waters, Fairfax County’s unemployment rate jumped from 2.4% at the end of 2024 to 3.8% in 2025. However, since February, that rate has lowered to 3.4%.“I’m not sure I would go as far as [to say] it’s on track to keep lowering. [...] I’m not quite ready to call the unemployment rate declining because there’s a couple different versions of why that can be the case,” he said.Waters notes that the unemployment rate in the area can decline as individuals move away or retire rather than remain in the workforce. However, he also said that Fairfax County has held up reasonably well and that the county’s unemployment rate remains below the national average of 4.1%. Additionally, he notes that housing prices in the county have remained steady over the last two years, as indicated by the average price of homes sold each year.“As people’s wages grow, they can sort of grow into those housing costs, and that’s largely going to be a reflection of the labor market, in my opinion,” said Waters.</div></body>

Block Source: Fairfax Times

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United Way of the National Capital Area (United Way NCA) is taking action to help combat financial hardship in Fairfax County, after the latest data showed that one-third of households face financial strain despite full-time employment. Serving 18 jurisdictions throughout Northern Virginia, including Fairfax County, Washington, D.C., and Southern Maryland,...

Working Fairfax families can’t afford basic necessities

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United Way of the National Capital Area (United Way NCA) is taking action to help combat financial hardship in Fairfax County, after the latest data showed

Working Fairfax families can’t afford basic necessities

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