New ALICE in Focus: Children research launching today reveals that in 2022, nearly 235,00 Idaho children — 51% — lived in financially insecure households. This includes 13% whose families lived in poverty, and another 38% living in struggling ALICE households. ALICE® (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) families earn above the Federal Poverty Level, but less than the cost of basics in their communities.

For our state’s Black and Hispanic children, the stakes are even higher — 75% and 71%, respectively, lived in financially strapped families in 2022. And across all races/ethnicities, just over 180,000 children in struggling families didn’t access the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — in large part because ALICE households often don’t qualify for public assistance.