In a report commissioned by a consortium led by the Anti-Poverty Network of New Jersey, the John S. Watson Institute at Thomas Edison State University, and the New Jersey Urban Mayors Association—The Cost of Poverty: The Perpetuating Cycle of Concentrated Poverty in New Jersey Cities—we explored the conditions that have lead to concentrated and structural poverty in the state’s rural and urban areas, as well as how those conditions prevent government from providing a sufficient response. By examining decades of tax records, budgets, and census data, we were able to trace the formation of conditions that led so many cities to lose their tax bases, fall into budget distress and stay there—primarily through macroeconomic forces well beyond their control. Our work demonstrated that without a state-level, structural solution to address concentrated poverty, it is not mathematically possible for cities to dig themselves out and deliver the unique services their businesses and residents need.
Read the full report.