PUTNAM COUNTY- Putnam County may be considered as one of the most affluent communities in New York State with the median household income of $121,000 as compared to the state’s $85,200, yet a substantial portion of the county’s 93,000 residents face financial hardship each day.
The United Way of Putnam-Westchester has released its annual ALICE (Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed) report that details households which earn more than the federal poverty level but less than the basic cost of living for the county.
United Way put it this way: “ALICE households plus those in poverty can’t afford the essentials and live on paycheck to paycheck.”
The report notes that households can move above or below the ALICE threshold as economic conditions and personal circumstances change, a pattern especially evident during the COVID pandemic’s economic disruptions.
Last year, some 14,000 households or 40 percent of Putnam’s population were below the ALICE threshold.
During that year, household costs in Putnam were well above the federal poverty level of $15,150 for a single adult and $32,650 for a family of four.
While conditions have improved for some households, many continue to struggle especially as wages fail to keep pace with the rising costs of household essentials such as housing, childcare, food, transportation, health care and a basic smart phone plan.
In Carmel-Mahopac, 34 percent of the town’s households fall below the ALICE threshold or live in poverty.
Kent’s numbers are 39 percent while Patterson tops the list at 44 percent followed by Philipstown’s 35 percent; 36 percent for Putnam Valley and 38 percent in Southeast.
Differences in the ages of residents facing poverty or found within the ALICE guidelines were also striking.
Fifty-three percent of all Putnam residents below the age of 25, twenty-seven percent of residents aged 25 to 44; 32 percent of Putnam residents aged 45 to 64 and 51 percent of the county’s residents aged 65 and over are living paycheck to paycheck.
The report also notes that Putnam’s neighboring counties, Rockland and Westchester, are also facing cost of living challenges with 54 percent of Rockland households falling below the ALICE threshold and 41 percent of Westchester families below the threshold despite a median household income of more than $118,500.
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