There’s a name for working families who are surviving but not thriving in Rhode Island: ALICE

By: Janine L. Weisman

Outlets: Rhode Island Current

Published: September 17, 2026

Words: 1,023

Last Updated: 17 hours, 42 minutes ago

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In her neon yellow shirt and pink hard hat, Ashlynn Jorge extended her arm and held her palm out to halt traffic approaching a sidewalk construction site on Kay Street in Newport shortly before 10 o’clock Thursday morning.

But the 26-year-old union laborer can’t stop the bills.

Jorge earns about $4,800 a month. But rent for the three-bedroom house in East Providence where she lives with her boyfriend and their two children, ages 6, …

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