Children in Financial Hardship: Tennessee
The number of children living in financially insecure households in Tennessee continues to be systematically undercounted. According to the outdated Federal Poverty Level (FPL), 18% of children in Tennessee (271,518) lived in poverty in 2022. Yet United For ALICE data shows that another 35% (533,141) — nearly twice as many — were also growing up in financial hardship. These children live in households that are ALICE®: Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, earning above the FPL but not enough to afford the basics in their communities.
With poverty-level and ALICE households combined, a substantial 53% of the more than 1.5 million children in Tennessee lived in a household with income below the ALICE Threshold of Financial Survival in 2022, ranking Tennessee 35th among all states and the District of Columbia (with 1st representing the lowest rate of children living in financial hardship). These households don’t earn enough to afford housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, technology, and taxes — the basics needed to live and work in the current economy.
Key Findings 2022
- More than half (53%) of children in Tennessee lived in households experiencing financial hardship. While 18% were below the FPL, an additional 35% were ALICE.
- By race/ethnicity, Hispanic and Black children continued to face greater hardship due to systemic barriers to financial stability: 72% of Hispanic children and 69% of Black children in Tennessee lived in households with income below the ALICE Threshold, compared to 45% of White children and 44% of Asian children.
- Having working adults in the household did not guarantee financial stability: 36% of Tennessee children in households with two adults in the labor force were still below the ALICE Threshold.
- Children below the ALICE Threshold often lacked access to crucial resources. Nearly 521,950 children below the Threshold in Tennessee did not participate in SNAP, and just over 194,675 had no high-speed internet access at home.
The links below offer a more detailed view of children growing up in financial hardship.
