Study sees nearly half of Pueblo workers are struggling
Tracy Harmon
Pueblo Chieftain USA TODAY NETWORK
Pueblo workers feel the hardship and now there is a study to back it up — paychecks are not stretching as far as they once did.
A first-of-its-kind report in Colorado clearly depicts the financial status of working families, including Pueblo County. The report, “ALICE in Colorado, a Study of Financial Hardship”, delves into the status of Asset-Limited Income- Constrained Employed (ALICE) families.
Funded by the state’s 10 United Way agencies and Ent Credit Union, the report delves into families that are not earning enough to get by. In Colorado, 37% of families are struggling, while Pueblo County has a 47% average of income- constrained families out of its 67,840 households.
In Pueblo County, 31% of families are described as ALICE families, and 16% of families are at or below the poverty level — that means nearly half of Pueblo families have costs that outpace their incomes.
“Pueblo County’s figure is striking, especially when we compare it with the state average,” said Shanna Farmer, president and chief executive officer for the United Way of Pueblo County.
“When you really talk about a household survival budget and what it takes for families just to make ends meet, it is pretty striking.”
“I don’t know that we are completely surprised just given the world in which we operate and given the hardships people are facing,” Farmer said.
“The number that did make me do a double take was that 81% of our single female heads of households with children are below the ALICE threshold,” Farmer said.
By contrast, only 49% of single male heads of households with children are struggling.
“When you think about how many single-income families there are in the community, the numbers line up, but they do seem high and part of it is that we don’t want our numbers to be that high,” said Chris Segura, director of communications for the United Way of Pueblo County.
How will the data help?
The report will help inform policy, resources and support programs for Colorado’s working families moving forward.
“Being able to put real numbers on it really helps to tell the story,” Farmer said.
“We certainly are going to lean into the data to help guide the work we do and the community investments we make, whether that is through grantmaking efforts or through programs we provide, we have to use this data to make those decisions. It really does paint that picture of where the needs are and we all want to invest in ways that will make the biggest impact.”
The struggling workers aren’t just fast-food workers or those with stereotypical low-paying jobs. “They are teaching our community’s children, helping our senior citizens, helping those who are in the hospital — they are providing critical services,” Farmer said.
“This isn’t just numbers, these are people who are our friends, families, coworkers our neighbors. Any one of us could be in this position,” she explained.
Segura said the data gives the community’s nonprofits a focus to develop resources and empower working families.
“For the more of us as a community that can row in the same direction, the ultimate goal would be to move the needle to where we want to be as a community in five years,” Farmer said. “We need to work collectively.”
The data is based on 2022 conditions and today the picture may be bleaker.
“Resources offered around COVID have gone away and the grocery store prices have changed in the past couple of years,” Farmer said.
“For the nonprofits we serve, I cannot state enough the importance of the work they are doing in this community. We are dedicated to doing anything we can to uplift the sector and will really focus the next year on support for the nonprofit community.”
Chieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at tharmon@chieftain. com or via X at x.com/tracywumps. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain. com.
“Pueblo County’s figure is striking, especially when we compare it with the state average,” said “When you really talk about a household survival budget and what it takes for families just to make ends meet, it is pretty striking.”
Shanna Farmer
President and chief executive officer for the United Way of Pueblo County