A growing number of Florida families earn about the federal poverty level but still cannot afford basic needs.
Families with young children in the greater Tampa Bay region are being squeezed the most, according to the latest report by United Way Suncoast.
The data shows a family of four, with two children in child care, living in Pinellas County would need to earn nearly $100,000 to cover yearly household expenses.
Vice president of United Way Suncoast Doug Griesenauer said that's the highest budget threshold for a family that size of any county in Florida.
The ALICE household survival budget is a measurement created by United Way to better measure the minimum expenses for working people to afford necessities like housing, health care and food.
Griesenauer said that families in nearby counties, including Hillsborough, Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto, are close behind the increasing household survival budget in Pinellas County.
READ MORE: A lack of affordable child care puts the burden on working Florida parents
He said that families of small children are being especially stretched thin due to increases in child care costs, the expiration of COVID-era child tax credit policies and continued increases in housing prices.
"We know families are resilient, we know that they're going to try and be very creative to figure out ways to make ends meet. But unfortunately, that ends up with sacrifice," he said.
Research shows that those trade-offs often look like families choosing between needs, like child care, housing, health care and food.
Gabriella Paul covers the stories of people living paycheck to paycheck in the greater Tampa Bay region for WUSF. She's also a Report for America corps member. Here’s how you can share your story with her.
