Income Stability

Income Stability is a family’s ability to meet their basic needs on a regular basis.

Income Stability

Income Stability is a family’s ability to meet their basic needs on a regular basis.

Food insecurity isn’t driven by a lack of food – it’s an economic issue rooted in a family’s inability to close the gap between their basic needs and their income.

Learn About Hunger - Income Stability

Food Insecurity is Driven by Lack of Income Stability

In households living paycheck to paycheck, the cost of rent, utilities, childcare, internet , transportation, and healthcare often leave little left over for nutritious food. As a result, families teeter on the edge of financial instability, where one unexpected expense — a blown tire, a rent hike, or unpaid sick days — can push them into hunger.

This issue isn’t confined to those living in poverty. A large gap between income and basic need expenses exists for almost half of Americans, limiting the economic mobility of working families both above and below the poverty line. They lack a “Survival Budget” – a term that refers to what it takes to pay for necessities plus having a small contingency fund.

A couple with their shopping cart of food.
For a Family of 4 the gap between the poverty line ($31,200) and the basic cost of living ($72,816) is $41,616. 4.7 million Texas households fall into this gap and live below the survival budget.

More than half of food-insecure families work full time, and 28% of working Americans, while not counted as “poor” by federal standards, still face difficult choices between basic needs.

0%
of Texas families cannot afford the basics to live.
0%
of food insecure families are employed full-time.

In Texas, recent wage increases haven’t kept up with the rising costs of living, leaving many workers — home health aides ($10.20/hr), cooks ($13/hr), waiters ($10.38/hr), retail sales workers ($11/hr), cashiers (12.39/hr) and construction workers ($16/hr) — earning barely enough to get by.

A large (and growing) number of Texans working these jobs face unpredictable schedules, fluctuating incomes, and lack access to paid leave, healthcare, and childcare.

Steady Paychecks Make Food Security Possible

Reliable Work & Paid Leave

Lack of consistent work, low wages, and no paid sick leave constantly expose workers to financial shocks. To break this cycle, the obstacles that keep people from achieving financial success must be removed. While raises and paid leave are difficult for businesses, they also make it possible for a consistent workforce and economic growth as families tend to spend where they live. Without these protections, families are forced to postpone preventive care, or go to work sick, possibly infecting others. This destabilizes employment and the bottom line for employers.

Affordable, Available Child care

Child care in Texas is often expensive or unavailable due to demand and cost. 91% of Texas children under six from low-income working families live where the supply of subsidized child care is less than the demand.

Without affordable child care families miss paychecks and may eventually be fired.

Smooth the Benefits Off-Ramp

In the United States, nearly 40% of households cannot cover a $400 expense. One unexpected cost – a car repair, medical emergency, or busted pipe – can lead them to depend on emergency food and other public benefits. The benefits cliff is a phenomenon where even a small bump in income can result in the loss of child care, housing, and nutritious food – leaving families financially worse off. Even small pay raises or additional work hours can push families off the cliff, undoing progress toward financial independence. Instead of serving as a bridge to stability, sharp cutoffs create a system where people are forced back into dependency.

Our Neighbor’s Voice

“My job is not increasing my hours. I don’t have enough money to pay for food. My rent is too high. Before I had the hours at work, but now I don’t get enough to help me assist my family.”

Income Instability

In the United States, nearly 40% of households cannot cover a $400 expense. One unexpected cost – a car repair, medical emergency, or busted pipe can lead them to a financial crisis.

0%
of Texas households living paycheck to paycheck can’t manage three months of living costs in case of an emergency.

This instability isn’t an individual problem; it impacts the broader economy. Financially stable workers — pay rent on time, shop at local businesses, and foster economic growth. Conversely, the chaos of perpetual income instability drives food insecurity and weakens local economies.

Policy Roadmap

Affordable Childcare and Paid Leave

Provide more access to affordable child care and paid sick leave so parents can consistently stay in the workforce and contribute to local businesses. This can involve additional child care subsidies and support for licensed home-based child care.

Tax Relief

Expand child tax credits for working families to reduce economic instability, childhood poverty, and boost local economies.

Reduce the Benefits Cliff

Too often, hard work is punished as small income increases result in families losing benefits before reaching the level of stability the public assistance was intended to help them achieve. Creating a graduated transition off of benefits reduces the likelihood families will have to return to using public benefits.

Sources

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2024). Poverty Guidelines. https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty-economic-mobility/poverty-guidelines

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