Many In Morris Twp. Close To Financial Ruin Before Pandemic: Data

MORRIS TOWNSHIP, NJ — Nearly a quarter of Morris Township and Morris Plains were one emergency away from financial ruin before the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new study. United Way of Northern New Jersey released a report Sunday that indicates many New Jerseyans entered the pandemic in vulnerable financial positions.

United Way measured "ALICE" households, which stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. United Way of Northern New Jersey coined the phrase in 2009 to represent those living paycheck to paycheck. The report's data represents figures from 2018.

Twenty-five percent of Morris Township households and 19 percent from Morris Plains fell below the ALICE threshold. See more town and county data here.

According to United Way, 5 percent of Morris County households are in poverty and an additional 25 percent qualify as ALICE households. And statewide, 37 percent of households were in financial distress in 2018, according to the report.

"No matter how hard ALICE families worked, the gap between their wages and the cost of basics just kept widening," said Kiran Handa Gaudioso, CEO of United Way of North New Jersey. "These already fragile ALICE households are now facing an even deeper financial hole due to the state of emergency created by the COVID-19 pandemic."

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The ALICE threshold in Morris County increased over the last decade, according to the organization. In 2010, the household threshold was $60,000 for those under 65 and $50,000 for seniors. Both figures increased to $75,000 for people under 65 and $60,000 for seniors in 2018.

Morris County had 8,837 impoverished households in 2010, according to United Way. In the past decade, that figure peaked at 9,900 in 2016 and reduced to 8,530 in 2018. The number of ALICE households went from 43,131 to 45,036 in that span.

New Jersey's cost of survival in 2018 was $30,240 for a single adult, $33,552 for a senior citizen and $88,224 for a family of four with an infant and a preschooler, according to the report. The median hourly wage for freight and stock laborers — the most common job in New Jersey — was $12.93, or $25,860 per year, according to United Way.

"Going back to normal is not good enough," Gaudioso said. "Normal means 37 percent of New Jersey households cannot afford the basics for survival. Normal is Black and Hispanic households shouldering a disproportionate share of financial hardship. Normal means the cost of basics rising at nearly twice the rate of inflation and outpacing wages. We can do better."

United Way of Northern New Jersey strives to create equity for people in poverty and those living paycheck to paycheck.

Click here to get the full report.

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