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Poor whites in NJ are scattered across the state. I worked for NJ state department of human services for a decade doing face to face family verifications prior to benefit decision. what i found on poverty by race is that > a Difference in Race geographic spread
> blacks and hispanics in poverty level are almost all concentrated in inner cities. From trenton to newark, down to elizabeth-jersey city.
>whites in povery level are scattered in pockets across small towns, suburbs and cities. there are areas in south jersey and west jersey that have larger pockets of segregated white poverty.
the biggest pocket of white poverty income levels in northern that ive seen is sussex county.
but i'd say 70% of whites in poverty are spread in big & small towns-and all major cities.
when i did home verifications i would come across a typical block in elizabeth that would have a line of 50 poor hispanic home renters but there would be 7-10 white home renters in the middle of all that. so from the outsider all you see are hispanics but you miss the spots of white families mix in the block
in the same token I would do home verifications in Irvington and Newark. You find block after block of poverty level blacks in the bad part of the city. But among that street of say 40 poor black rented homes in one radius- i would come across 8 white renter families within that radius. so from a outsider driving all you see is black people. But within that are spots of 5,10, 12 of poverty white families inside that community
> But ive verified and interview poverty level whites in diverse towns. from Belleville, Linden, Roselle, Carteret to moorestown, atlantic city, west new york, union city.
the cases I've found are very similar if not identical in reasons for poverty regardless if white,black, hispanic. Number 1 reason is lack of formal education or viable skill. number 2 addicition/alcoholism: alcoholism or drug addiction of adult male or female ( sometimes both) numbrer 3 failure to gain any steady or long term employment due to either lack of technical skill/education/communication skills or alcohol/drug dependency ( or both) number 3 Poor Physical health, sickness of adult in home with no means of other income. number 4 elderly, too old to find work or not physically capable to work
the biggest Myth by society in all povertly level whites, blacks, hispanics is laziness or refusal to work. are there losers who take advantage of the system? yes of course with out a doubt. Any industrial country whether america, canada and europe will always have its share of freeloaders. but what i have found is its at 10% max. the peak or highlevel maybe 15% was about 10 years ago of all state benefit applicants. but due to state tougher and tighter checks and enforcement in place since 2002, it always stays at maybe 7% to max 10%.
8.5 to 9.0 out of 10 poverty level families of all races-really do indeed need legitimate help because of the issues above. no matter what we all do, you will always find a pocket of society that need a hand-up and in some cases- a hand-out. but in all my experiences that hand-up is 90% of poor people.
I have changed my mind on this subject. Lots of white and blacks living in NJ have become poor just by living in NJ. Now lots of them have relocated to Southern states and are now back up to middle class.
Here is how that works, sell your mortgage free house in NJ and buy one newer and maybe slightly smaller down South for 1/2 the price of NJ. Bank the difference.
Instead of paying $10,000 in RE taxes you can live in a great neighborhood without mobile homes next door for around $2,000 RE taxes.
This only works if you are retired as they're are not too many jobs available.
If you find yourself with nothing to do you can always play golf, that seems to be what most everybody down here does.
About once or twice a year drive back up to NJ to visit friends and relatives and to also have some good pizza and bread. ( pizza and bread really sucks down here)
Pdd > you may be referring to Lower Income whites. ( versus poverty "poor" income level whites). i worked for over a decade with the NJ dept of human services as a case verification officer. i go face to face across the state to verbally and visually verify a person's application before any aid approval.
>the NJ and federal level definition of who is poor will be basically 98% renters. the whites you pertain to who would sell the NJ homes and get a mortgage in the southern united states would be classified as lower income white people. these people normally have steady low paying jobs. majority are just high school graduates. most have blue collar manual labor skills. but they still have the source of income thru employment that may pay them 50% or even 100% above minimum wage. in many cases, two adults are working in low paying jobs.
with whites in poverty. a typical scenario ( which is basically identical in may ways to poor blacks and hispanics <
is did not finish high school or finished high school from a bad public school. makes minimum wage or a few dollars above. most will Not survive without some kind of Public assistance for food anywhere from twice a year to 6 times a year, in some case every month. emergency assistance for electric or gas shut off. ( family does not have electricity or gas for spans of two weeks, even a month. but come winter time, emergency assistance is needed particularly for the poor elderly or the poor with minor children. For maybe 50% of families, alcholism, drug addiction or both are present in one or two adults.
>for these people, they have never had a mortgage. ( for many will never have one )
for probably 70% of these people- unfortunately, moving them to any state or any place will do very little for them.
the bright spot for me is based on stats, anywhere from 25% to 45% of people in poverty are able to eventually get off poverty, public aid after 1 to 5 years of struggling back up. in this bad economy, it may take some 5 years to get back up but many will eventually get back up on their feet.
in the same breath- there will always be people in any society, any country, any region, any state who will need gov't assistance one time or another. that's part of any society in 99% of all nations
poor whites in nj are scattered across the state. I worked for nj state department of human services for a decade doing face to face family verifications prior to benefit decision. What i found on poverty by race is that > a difference in race geographic spread
> blacks and hispanics in poverty level are almost all concentrated in inner cities. From trenton to newark, down to elizabeth-jersey city.
>whites in povery level are scattered in pockets across small towns, suburbs and cities. There are areas in south jersey and west jersey that have larger pockets of segregated white poverty.
The biggest pocket of white poverty income levels in northern that ive seen is sussex county.
But i'd say 70% of whites in poverty are spread in big & small towns-and all major cities.
When i did home verifications i would come across a typical block in elizabeth that would have a line of 50 poor hispanic home renters but there would be 7-10 white home renters in the middle of all that. So from the outsider all you see are hispanics but you miss the spots of white families mix in the block
in the same token i would do home verifications in irvington and newark. You find block after block of poverty level blacks in the bad part of the city. But among that street of say 40 poor black rented homes in one radius- i would come across 8 white renter families within that radius. So from a outsider driving all you see is black people. But within that are spots of 5,10, 12 of poverty white families inside that community
> but ive verified and interview poverty level whites in diverse towns. From belleville, linden, roselle, carteret to moorestown, atlantic city, west new york, union city.
The cases i've found are very similar if not identical in reasons for poverty regardless if white,black, hispanic. Number 1 reason is lack of formal education or viable skill. Number 2 addicition/alcoholism: Alcoholism or drug addiction of adult male or female ( sometimes both) numbrer 3 failure to gain any steady or long term employment due to either lack of technical skill/education/communication skills or alcohol/drug dependency ( or both) number 3 poor physical health, sickness of adult in home with no means of other income. Number 4 elderly, too old to find work or not physically capable to work
the biggest myth by society in all povertly level whites, blacks, hispanics is laziness or refusal to work. Are there losers who take advantage of the system? Yes of course with out a doubt. Any industrial country whether america, canada and europe will always have its share of freeloaders. But what i have found is its at 10% max. The peak or highlevel maybe 15% was about 10 years ago of all state benefit applicants. But due to state tougher and tighter checks and enforcement in place since 2002, it always stays at maybe 7% to max 10%.
8.5 to 9.0 out of 10 poverty level families of all races-really do indeed need legitimate help because of the issues above. No matter what we all do, you will always find a pocket of society that need a hand-up and in some cases- a hand-out. But in all my experiences that hand-up is 90% of poor people.
Poor whites in NJ are scattered across the state. I worked for NJ state department of human services for a decade doing face to face family verifications prior to benefit decision. what i found on poverty by race is that > a Difference in Race geographic spread
> blacks and hispanics in poverty level are almost all concentrated in inner cities. From trenton to newark, down to elizabeth-jersey city.
>whites in povery level are scattered in pockets across small towns, suburbs and cities. there are areas in south jersey and west jersey that have larger pockets of segregated white poverty.
the biggest pocket of white poverty income levels in northern that ive seen is sussex county.
but i'd say 70% of whites in poverty are spread in big & small towns-and all major cities.
when i did home verifications i would come across a typical block in elizabeth that would have a line of 50 poor hispanic home renters but there would be 7-10 white home renters in the middle of all that. so from the outsider all you see are hispanics but you miss the spots of white families mix in the block
in the same token I would do home verifications in Irvington and Newark. You find block after block of poverty level blacks in the bad part of the city. But among that street of say 40 poor black rented homes in one radius- i would come across 8 white renter families within that radius. so from a outsider driving all you see is black people. But within that are spots of 5,10, 12 of poverty white families inside that community
> But ive verified and interview poverty level whites in diverse towns. from Belleville, Linden, Roselle, Carteret to moorestown, atlantic city, west new york, union city.
the cases I've found are very similar if not identical in reasons for poverty regardless if white,black, hispanic. Number 1 reason is lack of formal education or viable skill. number 2 addicition/alcoholism: alcoholism or drug addiction of adult male or female ( sometimes both) numbrer 3 failure to gain any steady or long term employment due to either lack of technical skill/education/communication skills or alcohol/drug dependency ( or both) number 3 Poor Physical health, sickness of adult in home with no means of other income. number 4 elderly, too old to find work or not physically capable to work
the biggest Myth by society in all povertly level whites, blacks, hispanics is laziness or refusal to work. are there losers who take advantage of the system? yes of course with out a doubt. Any industrial country whether america, canada and europe will always have its share of freeloaders. but what i have found is its at 10% max. the peak or highlevel maybe 15% was about 10 years ago of all state benefit applicants. but due to state tougher and tighter checks and enforcement in place since 2002, it always stays at maybe 7% to max 10%.
8.5 to 9.0 out of 10 poverty level families of all races-really do indeed need legitimate help because of the issues above. no matter what we all do, you will always find a pocket of society that need a hand-up and in some cases- a hand-out. but in all my experiences that hand-up is 90% of poor people.
in i'd say 95% of cases the white families
I just wanted say that I really appreciate this post. I hate how people that are well off just assume that people that are receiving assistance are below them and lazy. I have never ever received assistance in my life and now that I have been laid off and can not obtain employment I am going back to school and using state assistance. You won't believe the amount of people that judge me because of this. Between school, work, and my daughter I am way more busy then the average person.
I know people take handouts but I am using the system for what it is for. In a few years I will be able to stand on my own feet, and I will never forget the help the state has given me. I will also make sure that a day doesn't go by in my life that I don't give back for it and I will teach my daughter to do the same.
I didn't know I was poor till I got my new tax bill. NJ and I, then, had to part company. This was in Browns Mills, right outside of Ft. Dix.
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