ALICE in TRUMPLAND

Tourists don’t notice them.

Plenty of full-time residents never think about them.

And yet an astonishing one quarter — exactly 25 percent — of the Kootenai County population can be classified as the working poor.

These are people who, according to Sam Wolkenhauer of the Idaho Department of Labor, are “one disaster away from poverty.”

Sadly, another 12 percent of the county already falls into that poverty category, meaning that 37 percent of Kootenai County households are struggling just to survive financially.

And that number is up from 33 percent over the past couple of years.

The United Way of North Idaho uses an acronym called ALICE, which stands for “Asset Limited, Income Constricted, Employed.” It refers to workers whose net pay leaves them stretching desperately to pay for the basic necessities of daily living.

The United Way’s study suggests that a family of four — including one preschooler and one infant — needs an income of $48,000 annually just to meet ALICE standards of getting by month to month. The national poverty rate for a family of four is $23,550.

A couple of obvious questions jump out when considering these high numbers of working poor in Kootenai County.

Why is the problem so pronounced here?

Can anything be done to improve the situation, perhaps through changes coming from the administration of President-elect Donald Trump?

“At first glance, this area seems like a beautiful place where the middle class and even the rich move because of the great lifestyle,” said Mark Tucker, executive director of the United Way of North Idaho.

“But there is another side to the economy in a tourist location. We have a lot of seasonal jobs that leave people struggling part of the year. And we don’t have many businesses that offer particularly high wages because there really isn’t an educated workforce.

“Overall, wages in the area are fairly low, and that means that a lot of households have little or no margin for error.”

Will things improve as Trump takes office?

After all, the new chief executive campaigned for a full year on helping the unemployed find jobs and upgrading the lot of underpaid workers who feel they’ve been pushed out of the middle class.

“Some of the changes that Trump has talked about, things like renegotiating trade deals with China and European countries, we just have to wait and see,” said Richard Tanksley, a political science instructor at North Idaho College.

“If Trump just helps the rich with tax cuts and hopes for a trickle-down effect, I don’t think that will help anyone in the ALICE category. We’ve seen with other attempts at trickle-down economies that money and attractive jobs generally don’t reach the lower end of the scale.

“But Trump also talked a lot about reducing income inequality, so if there are tax cuts coming for the middle class, they actually could have a positive effect on people that we consider just below that level — the ALICE group.

“The truth is that we just don’t know what Trump actually will do, on trade or immigration or taxes. I tend to think he’s a practical guy, a pragmatist, who will look at each issue and make changes he thinks are necessary.”

Organizations like the United Way and governmental bodies like the labor department are deeply invested in trying to pull ALICE households up to higher economic levels — but they must remain apolitical by definition.

Tucker also offers a very practical reason why United Way doesn’t take sides in political campaigns.

“We’re trying to help with funding for a lot of programs,” Tucker said. “If the state or national government tends to be business-oriented, then we will work hard to connect with businesses.

“If the shift is away from business, then we would concentrate on government grants and things in that range.”

One area that everyone seems to stress in the effort to lift all levels of the community is education.

Clearly, a more educated workforce would improve the business climate, but the emphasis apparently has to start long before it’s time to look for a job.

Keri Stark of the United Way, in fact, pointed out that families with terribly tight budgets might make a decision to find cheaper child care because money is needed elsewhere.

“Going with sub-standard child care might put a child at safety or health risks,” Stark said. “But more than that, the long-term effect is that the child is going to be at a disadvantage for life — behind in the educational process year after year, with the obvious consequences.

“ALICE families have to make these really difficult choices, and some of them can last forever.”

NIC’s Tanksley agreed about the emphasis on education, both early in life and later as you reach the workforce — and managed to sum up speculation about Trump at the same time.

“We can guess all day about what Trump will do, or if he’ll help one group or another, but the safest thing for any individual is not to count on a new government, or new policies, or any help like that.

“If you do the right things and prepare yourself properly, you can succeed in any political environment.”

That preparation could very well focus on education. Labor’s Wolkenhauer put it this way: “If somebody gave me a billion dollars, I’d spend it all on tech schools and other post-secondary institutions. That’s how much I feel we need those opportunities.”