A Step Away from Crisis: Why Inflation and Rising Costs Are Pushing Hoosiers to the Edge

When most people think of poverty, vivid and often limiting stereotypes come to mind. We picture someone relying on food pantries, a child wearing hand-me-downs, or a family living in temporary shelter. These cues are familiar because they’re visible—and because, growing up, they were often how we recognized peers who seemed to have less.

But those visible signs don’t tell the full story. The truth is that poverty today often wears a different face. It might be the family that volunteers at your church, the child who shows up to practice with the right gear, or the cashier who never misses a shift. We’ve been conditioned to recognize only the extremes of financial hardship, and in doing so, we miss the larger, more pressing reality: poverty is far more common—and far closer to home—than we realize.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a family of four is considered to be in poverty if their household income is less than $27,750 a year (2022 data). That number may seem shockingly low—and it is. But it’s also just the start of the conversation.

There’s an entire population of Hoosiers who live just above that official poverty threshold, yet struggle every single day to meet their basic needs. These families are what United Way has termed ALICE—Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. They’re earning above the poverty line, but not enough to afford a bare-bones household budget that includes housing, childcare, transportation, health care, and food.

These families often go unnoticed. Their kids may participate in school activities, and their parents may hold down multiple jobs. But behind the scenes, they are one car repair, medical bill, or missed paycheck away from falling into crisis. A child’s field trip becomes a budgeting dilemma. A higher-than-expected utility bill means skipping groceries that week. A single disruption throws everything into disarray.

This is what financial instability looks like. It’s not always loud or obvious—but it is deeply destabilizing.

Today, 37 out of 100 Hoosiers are living under financial stress. That means more than a third of our neighbors are quietly navigating impossible choices. And the pressure is growing. Inflation has outpaced wages. Gas prices have eaten into take-home pay. Childcare costs continue to rise while availability shrinks. What little breathing room many families had is now gone.

Being “above the poverty line” doesn’t mean someone isn’t in poverty. It simply means they don’t qualify for most forms of support—despite still lacking the resources to live with dignity, security, or hope for upward mobility.

As leaders, we must begin to recognize poverty differently—not just as an absence of income, but as the persistent inability to weather the shocks of daily life.