First–of-its-kind study finds 22% of nonprofit workers struggle financially.
The nonprofit workforce plays critical roles in health care, education, social services, advocacy, religious institutions, and other areas of civil society. While we know many nonprofit workers experience high levels of stress and job burnout, until now we did not know enough about nonprofit workers who experience financial hardship.
Independent Sector and United For ALICE’s first-ever ALICE in the Nonprofit Workforce: A Study of Financial Hardship report finds that more than one in five nonprofit employees in the United States struggled financially in 2022. The report rigorously analyzes publicly available data to understand the financial status of the country’s 13.9 million nonprofit employees in greater detail than ever before.
Of all nonprofit workers, 5% were below the official U.S. poverty level, and another 17% — more than three times as many — were ALICE®, or Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. ALICE nonprofit employees live in households that earn more than the Federal Poverty Level, but less than what it costs to survive in the counties where they live. They can’t afford the basics: housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, technology, and taxes.
This study is a starting point and call to action to find data-informed solutions — whether through policy or practice — to invest in the financial needs and well-being of nonprofit workers who are essential to driving meaningful and sustained change in our communities and our nation.
As a companion to this study, Independent Sector and United For ALICE will next publish a fact sheet on the economic benefits of achieving financial security for the nonprofit workforce, as well as a national- and state-level data dashboard.
