New Jersey Shows Up For ALICE

Supports for ALICE families included in the state's 2023 budget

United Way staff attended the official ceremony where Governor Phil Murphy adopted the state's fiscal year 2023 budget.

Today, New Jersey adopted a state budget that supports the unique needs of those families living paycheck to paycheck who we call ALICE – Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. And it recognizes the work this United Way is doing to address systemic racial and economic inequities.

Thanks to Governor Phil Murphy and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, the state’s fiscal year 2023 budget includes three key supports for ALICE workers:

• The creation of a refundable state-level child tax credit that can help stabilize families, improve child development, and target existing racial inequities as Black and Hispanic children are disproportionately affected by financial hardship.

• A $1.5 million investment in our United In Care pilot project to address the critical shortage of quality, affordable, and accessible child care across this state.

• A $750,000 investment in free tax prep services statewide that ensure ALICE families claim every credit they’re due, putting their hard-earned money back into our local economies.

"ALICE workers show up day in and day out for us, including on holidays" said United Way of Northern New Jersey CEO Kiran Handa Gaudioso. "I’m so thankful that our elected officials took notice and decided they would show up for ALICE."

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