Can You Make $15.50 an Hour Last a Week?

A photojournalistic, over-the-shoulder shot of a male production associate sitting at a worn wooden table in an industrial break room. He holds a smartphone showing a generic mobile banking app with an overdraft balance of -$133.00 in red text. In the soft-focus foreground lie folded safety glasses, a lunch container, and a coffee cup, with metal lockers and a plant floor visible in the background.

Forty percent of Michigan households cannot afford basics despite working. The 2026 ALICE data explains why wage bands need rebuilding.

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