07/24/2026
What Does It Really Mean to "Make Enough"?
One of the biggest "aha" moments from our first Getting Ahead class came during a discussion about income.
One of our Class 1 investigators (Rachel) has shared this story several times because it changed the way she thinks about financial stability.
As the class worked through an exercise on the cost of meeting basic needs, they found that a single adult would need to earn about $20.26 an hour or about $42,000 a year working full-time—just to cover the basic necessities of everyday life. It helps explain why many working households continue to struggle despite having jobs that likely do not pay that much.
The information and conversation stayed with Rachel. Later, she began asking people she knew—friends, acquaintances, people in her own circle—how many earned at least that much.
She discovered that the answer was: not very many.
We hear about the Federal Poverty Level. We hear that someone earns 150% or 200% of poverty. We hear about ALICE. We hear terms like "living wage," "median income," and "cost of living."
They all sound similar, but they're actually measuring different things and are used for different purposes.
Is it any wonder most of us don't really understand what those numbers mean? I know I didn't.
The Federal Poverty Level is primarily an eligibility guideline used for many assistance programs. Depending on the program, eligibility might extend to 150%, 185%, or even 200% of that amount. Being above those guidelines, however, doesn't necessarily mean a household can comfortably afford housing, food, transportation, healthcare, childcare, and all of the other expenses that come with everyday life.
Another way of looking at the picture comes from ALICE, which stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. ALICE focuses on households that are working and earning above the official poverty level, yet still struggle to consistently afford life's basic necessities.
Even if you can consistently meet your basic needs, that's not the same as having an emergency fund, saving for retirement, replacing a car without going into debt, taking a family vacation, or building long-term financial security.
Perhaps that's the bigger question.
What does it really mean to make enough?
Over the coming weeks—and probably even months—we'd like to explore some of these measurements, including the ALICE data for Okmulgee County, and talk about what they really mean. Not because statistics can tell someone's whole story, but because they can help us better understand the stories already unfolding in our own community.
If you're curious in the meantime, we'll include a link to the United for ALICE website below. Don't worry if it feels like a lot of information—we'll get to know ALICE together over the coming weeks.
ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) may be a relative or friend. You may be ALICE. As cashiers, waiters, child care providers, and other members of our essential workforce, ALICE earns just above the Federal Poverty Level but less than what it costs to make ends meet. These strugglin...
