Who knew? New Jersey has some of the richest counties in the United States (Morris and Bergen for example), but we’re among the poorest.
A report released by the Poverty Research Institute of Legal Services of New Jersey, one in nine of us are living in poverty – about $17,285 for an adult and two children. The federal government says poverty is $10,400 for a single person, $14,000 for a couple, $17,600 for a family of three and $21,200 for a family of four.
Considering the minimum wage is $7.15 an hour, jobs are scarce and the average 2 bedroom apartment about $1,000 … well, it’s not surprising we’re poor.
“The numbers in this latest compilation are simply stunning, and terribly troubling,” Melville D. Miller Jr., president of Legal Services of New Jersey, said in a press release. “In the wake of the Great Recession, New Jersey poverty is markedly worse by every measure.”
According to the report, the 2009 poverty rate increased to 9.4 percent, up from 8.7 percent in 2008. No wonder I feel broke; I am!
Reading the report made be grateful I was laid off from a job that gave me the maximum unemployment allowable. Did I take a big hit? Yes. But I’m not poor. If I had been laid off from a job that paid minimum wage? I’d be in a homeless shelter.
Of course I’m also quite fortunate I can rent a small apartment from my parents. Without that advantage? I’d be living in studio in a bad neighborhood, probably above a noisy bar.
Everyone is blaming Gov. Christie. He’s slashing services, laying off cops in dangerous cities like Paterson, Newark and Camden. Poverty and no law enforcement is a scary combination.
The answer? I don’t think anyone has one. But the high-powered politicos better come up with something. The people suffering the most – the children and elderly – need help.
People like me? I have the advantage of a nice town, an education and a resume that will land me a job … soon. But the children and elderly? The people who can’t make more than $10 an hour?
We as a nation have a responsibility to do something.
TIP:
Enter the amount, and click "Tip" to submit!
froggy
Thoth
Susie Lindau
Mimetalker
Frank Michels
Surazeus
Salon.com
Comments
well researched
hope its a call to action...but by whom?
Larry we do. Nothing like the turnpike on a warm summer day.
By the way, $1000 for a 2 bedroom is a bargain! Market rent for a bottom end 2 bedroom runs about $1350 per month. An average 2 bedroom in North Jersey would be about $1650 per month, plus heat, hot water and electric.