Nearly 50 percent of single mothers in Taylor County ?living in the gap?, according t
 

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ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) –*For some in Taylor County, paying for housing, child care, and food doesn’t break the budget, but for more than 2,000 people living here, it does.

United Ways of Texas releasing and “ALICE” or asset limited, income*constrained, employed report, analyzing the number of people the fit into this specific category. That means the person works, pays taxes but doesn’t quite make enough.*

One of the biggest groups of people in Taylor County that meet these criteria, single mother households.*

“I feel guilty, you know I need help from my mom sometimes grocery wise and I just feel guilty a lot,” said single mother Anastazea Castillo.

KTAB/KRBC speaking with one single mother who’s putting herself through cosmetology school while trying to support her almost two-year-old daughter.

According to United Way of Abilene, nearly 46 percent of single mother households fall into the ALICE category, something officials describe as people one crisis away from a major financial burden.

“If you have one major emergency in your life or a large medical bill that can really impact the rest of the choices you make financially the rest of the month and can really put you in a tough spot,” said Bethany Ashlock from United Way of Abilene.

Luckily for Anastazea, she has her mom and some close friends she can lean on when things get tough, a group she says have been a blessing as she works her way through cosmetology*school, hoping to make a better life for her and her daughter.

“It’s really hard to push yourself through school, financially,* you’re having to work, you know some people have to work three jobs and you know having a kid just makes it a tiny bit more,” said Castillo. “I really lean towards my daughter a lot because she’s probably one of the people who keep me sane. In an all-female environment, it gets pretty tough, people have more money then you and they have better things than you, I for one have everything other people have so I just work with what I have and one day I’ll get the nice stuff everyone else has.”

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