A choice between modern technology or paying for childcare, the cost of job transportation vs food purchases, preventative medical care weighed against the cost of missing work: these are choices made every day by those Connecticut — and Newtown — residents who are what the Connecticut United Way have deemed ALICE: Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. Every two years, the ALICE Project issues an updated report focused on the costs of housing, childcare, food, transportation, health care, technology, and taxes in our state and the average income needed to afford these items that so many take for granted.

The 2018 ALICE report released September 2 is not as uplifting as one might hope. The number of ALICE and poverty-stricken households has increased overall by ten percent since 2016. In Newtown, 29 percent of our residents are now at ALICE threshold or lower.

ALICE fills the service jobs relied upon: retail and grocery workers, repair men and women, restaurant workers, laborers, and even teachers and other skilled workers, and struggles to make ends meet. Even while working full-time, and even in households where two adults work full-time, 30 percent of Connecticut’s population is one emergency away from financial crisis. Ten percent statewide do not earn enough to qualify as being ALICE sufficient. They live in poverty.

Since the 2016 report, income has not risen to match the rise in cost of living in our state, even though wages have improved in the two years since that study. Leaping the gap between wages and cost of living is an Olympian task, and more so in a relatively wealthy town like Newtown.

What keeps ALICE in our notoriously expensive town may be a commitment to better their children’s lives. Newtown is renowned for its excellent school system, and education is critical to move ALICE up and out of survival mode.

Job loss or downgrade while a resident of Newtown may result in an inability to move to a more affordable area when income takes a nosedive. Caring for relatives who need assistance is problematic for ALICE: live nearby in unaffordable circumstances, or move away, adding stress of traveling and increased transportation costs to offer that support.

There are many more factors than wages that affect our friends and neighbors who are “ALICE.” It all adds up, though, to tough times for ALICE.

We don’t like to admit that ALICE is a block away, or in our schools, or sitting next to us in the office. ALICE may not be aware of programs like the nonprofit Earn, SaverLife, through United Way, which can help the financially challenged create a savings plan that can be a safety net for unexpected expenses.

So talk about it; talk about the educational opportunities offered through various groups and Newtown Continuing Education. Talk about employers who support programs that decrease barriers to employment. Talk about opportunities when you think someone feels hopeless. Talk, and hope that ALICE hears your voice. A compassionate approach to human problems may be one of the simplest plans to implement.

ALICE lives next door. Supporting education and livable wages and a commitment to improve job opportunities are all things each of us, as we are able, can dedicate ourselves to improving.