Poverty in New Jersey
Through the Poverty Research Institute, Legal
Services of New Jersey has begun conducting basic research on poverty
in New Jersey - exploring its impact on our clients and its interrelationship
with employment and welfare. The papers generated by this research will
be posted to this page in the future. And if you
are an attorney licensed to practice in New Jersey please consider volunteering your services to assist just one client this year.
If you have trouble opening one of the PDF files listed below, please 
download the latest version of Adobe Reader. Larger files take longer to open.
- Poverty Benchmarks 2009: Assessing New Jersey’s Advances, Declines, and Growing Challenges in Addressing Problems of Inadequate Income - The Poverty Benchmarks Project is an on-going data collection effort that aims to increase understanding of poverty in New Jersey as a foundation for more effective public response to the reality of poverty and its consequences. This report is the third in the annual series and updates key poverty trends and attendant policy implications. It also examines the effectiveness of existing state programs addressing poverty and considers additional alternatives for state action.
For earlier reports in the Poverty Benchmarks series, see the Poverty Benchmarks Archive.
- Analysis of 2007 Poverty and Income Data
- Not Enough To Live On: Characteristics of Households Below the Real Cost of Living in New Jersey - This report discusses the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of New Jersey residents with inadequate incomes according to research on the Real Cost of Living (RCL) in New Jersey. The report builds on the RCL report series that was inaugurated in 1999 and most recently updated in 2008, and uses the alternative measure of income sufficiency calculated in these reports to analyze the characteristics of three different groups — those with incomes below the federal poverty level, those with incomes above the federal poverty levels but below the RCL and those with incomes above the RCL. This analysis provides a more accurate estimate of households whose incomes fall short of self-sufficiency and how they compare to other, more economically-stable groups. Factors such as employment, demographic characteristics, educational attainment and geographic distribution of income inadequacy across the state are examined to provide insight into patterns income insufficiency in the state and policy choices that will help improve the economic situation of households that lack essential financial resources. The report’s unit of analysis is households rather than individuals, and the Study Population is restricted to households with working-age adults that have no work-inhibiting disability.
- The Real Cost of Living in 2008: The Self-Sufficiency Standard for New Jersey
An updated report in the Real Cost of Living series produced by Dr. Diana Pearce, Ph.D. of the University of Washington. The report provides a detailed analysis of the cost of living in New Jersey for working families based on the true cost of basic household expenses including housing, child care, health care, and food. It also provides a comparison of the Real Cost of Living to other benchmarks of income including the federal poverty level, welfare income, and minimum wage income. Several policy implications flow from the report’s themes and the report includes information on key action the state could take to help New Jersey families meet their basic needs given the high cost of living.
Assessing Work First: Challenges Facing Long-Term Welfare Recipients in New Jersey - Report two from the Assessing Work First series, released June 2000.
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Assessing Work First: What Happens After Welfare? - Report one from the Assessing Work First series, released June 1999.
- Archive of earlier PRI reports
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