United Way of Northern New Jersey

Twelve percent were living in poverty in 2019, and another 29% were in families that make enough to be ineligible for assistance but not enough to afford basic needs, the report says.

New Jersey didn't need a global pandemic to throw hundreds of thousands of additional families into financial despair — that was already happening before COVID-19 hit the Garden State.

Advocacy groups and nonprofits in New Jersey are calling on the public to support relief initiatives that aim to help New Jersey's most vulnerable workers who can't access government assistance during this pandemic, including unauthorized immigrants.

Many in New Jersey are considered Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. They are above the poverty line, but struggling to make ends meet on a monthly basis.

Most of these households are ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) — men and women who work at low-paying jobs and are one emergency away from poverty.

NJ residents living above the federal poverty line are still below the basic cost of living for housing, food and child care.

If you think you’re having it rough, you’re not alone. A report citing a recent study by the United Way of Northern New Jersey finds that “one in four households in New Jersey is walking a financial tightrope, unable to afford this state’s high cost of living, one emergency from falling into poverty...