The data shows that poverty and food insecurity are serious issues in my legislative district (District 32) and in Bonneville County. What has kept the situation from getting better, and how can we help?
According to ALICE statistics from legislative District 32 in 2022 (ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed):
32% of households were ALICE. They earn above the Federal Poverty Level, but not enough to afford the basics. 11% of households earned below the Federal Poverty Level.
Which means: a whopping total of 43% of households in District 32 were below the ALICE threshold. That’s nearly one in two households that couldn’t afford the basics.
While profits increase for shareholders, wages have remained stagnant for decades with excess inflation. Yet, our majority Republican legislature has voted against minimum wage increases at every turn. Republicans are also against rent regulation that would keep housing affordable, as was demonstrated earlier this year by the party line votes for House Bill 545. A real family value is supporting policies that allow all families to thrive, not impressing upon others a narrow definition of what you think a family should be.
According to Feeding America, in Bonneville County in 2022:
- 10.9% of people (children and adults) were food insecure.
- 13.7% of the children in Bonneville County were food insecure.
Child hunger is so common in Bonneville County that any given classroom could have at least 1-2 children going hungry. Our legislature recently chose not to accept federal funds for the summer EBT program for children from low-income families, citing the availability of summer feeding programs. Besides a potential lack of transportation to the locations, parents might be working during the limited hours meals are served. Some kids have food allergies that the freedom to choose what you purchase with EBT could accommodate for what the feeding programs cannot.
If our legislature doesn’t want to provide robust programs for families that can’t afford the basics, why doesn’t it support higher wages and affordable housing?
I believe that lives are worth saving and that people are deserving of proper food, water, shelter, and healthcare. Accessing basic needs empowers a citizenry, aids them in their productivity, and leads to upward mobility. It is crucial for mental health. People living in survival mode with a dysregulated nervous system cannot construct and execute long-term goals to find a way out of poverty. Chronic stress also leads to poor physical health. Thriving should be possible for everyone, and I don’t believe in a society where only the people with power, money, and influence can do well.
There are many of us that these issues affect directly, whether ourselves or loved ones. There is power in numbers. It is up to us to not only vote for better politicians who serve our interests, but to also take action ourselves to serve our communities.
Cecile Pérez is a concerned citizen who wants to make a difference. She is a Chicane serving on the Bonneville County Democratic Central Committee as chair of legislative district 32.