Millions of people are suffering...
Action Against Hunger says this:
"There is more than enough food produced in the world to feed everyone on the planet. Yet as many as 783 million people still go hungry."
When we cheerfully give and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.
Mary Angelou
462 million around the world suffer from undernutrition...
- Nearly half of deaths among children under 5 are linked to undernutrition
- Globally, 149 million children are projected to be stunted or too thin for height
- 45 million kids are estimated to be wasted or too short for age
Discrepancy & Disproportion
According to CNBC, New Jersey ranks top 4 (after Maryland, Virginia, California, and New York) in expenses for a single person to live comfortably, being 28,000 yearly. New Jersey also ranks top 3 for highest income tax (2021) at 10.75%, only behind the tourist-savvy destinations of California and Hawaii.
Out of Reach 2022 found that New Jersey ranks Top 5 at nearly $34 for how much a full-time worker must earn (working 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year) in order to afford Fair Market Rent ( (estimate of 40th percentile gross rents) for an ordinary two-bedroom-rental home. The average household would need to earn $46,967 to afford it, only being passed by the population hotspots of California, Massachusetts, and Washington. This is not only much higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour (2015), this is nearly 27 dollars more PER HOUR.
Discrimination & Segregation
The University of Chicago found in a 2021 study that 53% of sheltered and 40% of unsheltered homeless were employed between 2011 – 2018. These findings found that the mean annual earnings sheltered homelessness was $8,169, whereas the earnings for unsheltered people was even lower at $6,934 (both were in 2015). That's nearly 20,000 less than the amount needed for a single person to live comfortably (which is even more for unsheltered homeless people).
These among many other demographics show why staying above the poverty line is so difficult for many individuals in NJ as it is clearly apparent that no one can live off of minimum wage even if one is working full time.
But the truth is that most homeless people are unable to get better jobs after they are on the streets. They are stuck in this cycle where is very difficult to return back to normal life (similar to those that have been in incarcerated) as employers have all sorts of discriminations whether that's education, access to transportation, etc.
And that's not even considering the effects of COVID. The pandemic has hastened up the transition to a more digital/electronical world and consequently this has replaced many supposedly "non-critical" jobs.
Specifics Closer to Home...
"We've seen people who never had access to the pantry, signing up. Our volume is up 30% pre-pandemic." - Flemington Food Pantry, Executive Director
All 15 of Hunterdon County’s food pantries saw substantial increases in demand as reported by the Hunterdon County Board of County Commissioners in 2021.
"Food insecurity rates throughout NJ rose beyond levels seen during the 2008 Great Recession with more than half of New Jersey’s 21 counties exceeding their highest-ever rates in history."
Hunterdon County is the most expensive New Jersey county to live in, at $111,459 per year, according to the Economic Policy Institute report from 2018.
Despite Hunterdon County’s wealth, there are families in the county that continue to struggle and need supportive services to make ends meet.
"Even though New Jersey's residents have rising numbers that need TANF due to COVID-19, Trenton still limits WFNJ services to at most five years."
WorkFirst NJ or the state’s welfare program provides temporary cash aid services to families through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program which for large majority is used on needs such as food.
Hunterdon County has the second lowest number of families on TANF, behind neighboring counties such as Somerset and Warren, despite the county's high amounts of qualifying recipients.