The Record Series on Poverty in Northern New Jersey

Hardship grows amid wealth: Residents face unexpected need in communities across North Jersey, By Harvy Lipman, June 24, 2012, The Record: “Karen Levi doesn’t think of herself as being poor. After all, she has a condo in Mahwah, 10 years’ experience in marketing and publishing and, before the recession struck, she was making $75,000 a year. But the fact of the matter is that Levi hasn’t had a full-time job in three years, even after returning to school last year to get her certification as a paralegal. A divorcée who supports a 20-year-old daughter in college, she took in $31,000 last year working a range of part-time jobs and collecting unemployment checks. When her jobless benefits run out for good at the end of this month, she’ll lose nearly two-thirds of her income. That will pretty much land her at the official federal poverty level of $11,170 for a single person – an amount that experts agree greatly underestimates the cost of living in a place like North Jersey…”