A new report from the Urban Institute defines households as clearing the threshold for the “true cost of economic security” if they have the earnings and other resources to afford: food, housing, clothing, health care, technology, social activities, taxes and other areas needed to be able to engage fully in society and the economy “without undue restrictions or hardship.” The household should also be able to save for future needs and emergencies.
Urban Institute
- In 2023, 11 percent of the population lived below the poverty line, while 49 percent lacked the resources to be economically secure. Many of the latter group “are not poor, but they are struggling,” per the report.
- Households were less likely to have enough resources to meet economic security needs if they had three or more children or were single parent households, did not own their own homes, lacked someone working full time year-round or included someone with a disability, especially disabilities that made them unable to care for themselves.
- Hispanic people were the most likely to struggle with economic security, while white non-Hispanic people were the least.
- In some regions, greater shares of the population were economically insecure, but local cost of living was not a strong factor; generally, people living in higher-cost areas also had more resources. The West had the highest share of households who were not clearing their true cost of economic security threshold, while the Midwest had the least. People living in metro areas tended to be more economically secure than those who didn’t.
- Forty-five percent of households who were economically insecure in 2023 had resources falling just 13 percent short of meeting their true cost of economic security threshold — meaning financial security was in sight.
Urban Institute
