United Way says 1.2 million NJ residents struggling with poverty

PressofAC

38 percent of New Jersey households, a total of 1.2 million people, struggled to meet their basic needs in 2012, according to a study released by the United Way of New Jersey. According to the study, 32 percent of households met the same criteria two years earlier. 

The study combines federal poverty statistics with the United Way's own calculus for assessing poverty, known as ALICE, or "Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed." The United Way defines "ALICE households" as those led by working adults whose "jobs do not pay enough to afford the basics of housing, child care, food, health care, and transportation." 

According to official federal statistics, 10.5 percent of New Jersey households were in poverty in 2012. 

The study also found that from 2007-2012, the cost of household needs like child care and food increased by 19 percent.