Many have been concerned with rising poverty rates in the Jamestown area.

We have long suspected there is a sizeable part of the local population, however, that lives above the poverty line but still struggles to get by each month. Now, there is a way of measuring that number among us. ALICE — a new measurement that stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed — gives cause for even more concern than our already alarming poverty statistics.

The ALICE Treshhold of $45,000 for Chautauqua County is the income by which a family of four under the model of two parents, one infant and one preschooler — with child care costs playing the largest role in Chautauqua County household expenditures. In Chautauqua County, which is still more than 90 percent Caucasian, 46 percent of all households that identify as white are below the ALICE threshold, while 76 percent of all households that identify as Hispanic fall into this category. Nearly 42 percent of seniors ages 65 and older fall below the threshold.

One way for all of us to help this situation is by donating to the United Way of Southern Chautauqua County’s annual campaign. The United Way invests proceeds from the campaign in 42 programs at 45 different agencies, with the bulk of those dollars helping those who fall below the ALICE threshhold. It is the hope of people like Tory Irgang, United Way of Southern Chautauqua County executive director, that these programs can help those living below the ALICE threshhold to become more self-sufficient as the area economy begins to add more jobs –and better-paying jobs — that can provide the basis for a thriving economy in our part of the county.

Chautauqua County has received good news lately on jobs and economic development. It will be interesting to see how the ALICE statistics change as those jobs become a reality.