A Gen X mom makes $25,000 at Applebee's and can only afford one meal a day. She's one of many Americans who live paycheck to paycheck but don't qualify for government help.
Oscar Wong / Getty Images
- Cherie Tobias, 48, lives above the poverty line but struggles to afford necessities, like food.
- She's considered an ALICEs — asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed.
- Tobias makes $25,064 as an Applebee's server but can't pay for medicine and electricity.
Cherie Tobias, 48, hasn't been grocery shopping in over a year because she can't afford it.
She's a server at an Applebee's in Hastings, Michigan, and works at least 40 hours a week for $25,064 annually, per documents viewed by Business Insider. Still, Tobias said people "aren't tipping like they used to," and most of the time, she can only afford one meal a day.
As the main income earner for her household, Tobias works to support her 19-year-old son, her fiancé, and her fiancé's mother. She struggles to pay her bills and typically is only able to eat something when she uses her employee discount at Applebee's or has enough money to buy a few stand-alone ingredients at a time from the store.
Tobias said her financial situation makes her feel "hopeless, desperate, defeated, and ready to give up." Still, because her income technically places her above the federal poverty line, she doesn't qualify for government assistance.
"I make too much to get help," she told Business Insider.
Tobias is one of a growing number of Americans who are ALICEs — people who are asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed. Many ALICEs make too much money to qualify for government assistance programs like SNAP benefits but don't make enough to afford daily life in the US comfortably.
The federal poverty line is $20,440 a year for a family of two, and is not adjusted to reflect cost-of-living differences in individual cities or states. Many ALICEs live paycheck to paycheck.
About 29% of US households are ALICEs, compared to 13% of Americans who live below the federal poverty level, according to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey data and cost-of-living estimates analyzed by United Way's United For ALICE program.
And, guaranteed basic-income programs — which are being tried in cities across the US — typically only apply to families living below the poverty line.
For Tobias, her economic position feels like being stuck in a cycle of asking for help that never arrives.
"I don't want to be rich," she said. "I just want to be able to get by comfortably without the stress."
Tobias works full-time but struggles to afford utilities and healthcare
Electricity and mortgage bills are Tobias' top expenses. Her fiancé is disabled, and all of his disability payments go toward paying for the couple's house.
Tobias said she is responsible for covering her family's other needs, and she just received a "shutoff notice" for her electricity in the mail. She's hoping to file for state emergency relief so she can keep her lights on.
Because of a car accident a few years ago, Tobias also has health issues. She has Medicaid, but her income level means she doesn't qualify for strong coverage.
And, any financial assistance she had from pandemic relief funds is no longer available, she said.
Applebee's doesn't provide Tobias with health insurance and she can't afford her own plan — she estimates she spends $2,000 on out-of-pocket healthcare costs a month, which includes buying prescription medications. On her last trip to the pharmacy, Tobias said she was only able to afford one of the three prescriptions she needed.
Soon, if she can afford it, Tobias hopes to move her family out of Michigan and find stability somewhere else. She has a college degree and has submitted almost 50 job applications but hasn't been hired yet.
Stability for Tobias would mean opening the cupboard knowing there's food there for the day, she said. She would also be grateful to go to the pharmacy and pick up all of her necessary medicine in one trip.
She wishes there was more support for people in economic positions like hers.
"We need help, especially those of us that are trying to go to work every day," Tobias said. "No matter how we feel, no matter how much pain we're in, we're going to try to push through to provide — but we go home defeated."
Are you making above the poverty line but still struggling to afford daily life? Reach out to this reporter at allisonkelly@insider.com.