1 In 4 NJ Veterans Struggle To Make Ends Meet: Report

NEW JERSEY — Serving in the U.S. military doesn't guarantee financial stability for veterans in New Jersey or anywhere in the nation. In the Garden State, nearly 1 in 4 veterans struggle to afford the basics, according to a new report from United Way of Northern New Jersey.

The nonprofit measures financial struggles not just through the poverty line but through its ALICE metric. ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) households earn more than the federal poverty level but less than what it costs to live and work in the modern economy.

In 2019, 4 percent of New Jersey's 294,717 veterans were in poverty, while 20 percent met ALICE criteria and struggled to afford the basics, according to the report. That's 24 percent who fell below the ALICE threshold, only slightly lower than New Jersey's rate of adults who never served and struggle to make ends meet (28 percent).

Around the U.S., 27 percent of veterans lived in a household that fell below the ALICE threshold. The report, released Veterans Day, paints a picture of a nation not doing enough to help those who served with meeting basic economic needs.

"Our freedom comes with the responsibility to ensure that those who have served and sacrificed don’t struggle to make ends meet once they return home," said Kiran Handa Gaudioso, United Way of Northern New Jersey's CEO. "Although veterans do have additional supports not afforded non-veterans, clearly there’s still room for improvement."

New Jersey veterans face some tougher hurdles than their counterparts in New York and Connecticut. Fifty-one percent of New Jersey veterans earning less than the ALICE threshold spent more than 35 percent of their income on a mortgage, utilities, tax and insurance, compared to 39 percent in New York and 50 percent in Connecticut.

Sixty-four percent of New Jersey veterans below the ALICE threshold are rent-burdened — the nation's third-highest rate behind Nevada (71 percent) and Hawaii (66 percent), according to the report.

United Way of Northern New Jersey also found disparities in terms of race, ethnicity and disability.

In New Jersey, 32 percent of Black veterans and 29 percent of Hispanic veterans struggled to afford basic needs, compared to their Asian and white counterparts (21 and 23 percent, respectively). However, New Jersey's Asian and white veterans are more likely to fall below the ALICE threshold than Asian and white residents who didn't serve. Twenty percent of white and Asian non-veterans in the state fell below the ALICE threshold.

Thirty percent of veterans with disabilities reported financial hardship in 2019, compared to 22 percent of veterans without disabilities. However, 48 percent of New Jersey's disabled, non-military population experienced financial hardship at that same time.

Twenty-percent of New Jersey's female veterans financially struggled in 2019 — slightly higher than the rate for the state's male veterans (24 percent).

Much of the report's data stems from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey in 2019 — the year before the pandemic began and the latest available data. The ACS didn't include questions on gender identity or sexual orientation. So while United Way of Northern New Jersey wasn't able to quantify how many LGBTQ+ veterans struggle financially, queer veterans continue to face systemic challenges, such as employment discrimination and limited access to LGBTQ+-inclusive health care, the report says.

View the full report here.