Opinion: Higher wage will make NJ’s low-income households safer, healthier

February 7, 2019

New Jersey’s women and working families just earned a hard-fought victory.

Gov. Phil Murphy recently announced an agreement with legislative leaders to raise the minimum wage for most workers to $15 an hour by 2024. This will bring financial relief to low-income families and strengthen the state’s economy over time. It’s also an important step toward making households safer and healthier.

Although New Jersey’s overall unemployment rate has gone down, the number of families confronting poverty and economic hardship is relatively stuck. Paychecks are not meeting basic needs. When you cannot afford the bills, food, and rent, you are not likely to be planning — or saving — for the future, either.

Op Ed by Debra Lancaster executive director, Center of Women and Work at the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations and Andrea Hetling is a Faculty Adviser at the Center for Women and Work and associate professor at the Bloustein School, January 25, 2019 

Recent Posts

Healthcare, Policy, and the Opioid Crisis: Bridging Gaps in Access

Healthcare, Policy, and the Opioid Crisis: Bridging Gaps in Access with Zoe Lindenfeld This week on EJB Talks, new Bloustein School Assistant Professor Zoe Lindenfeld talks to Dean Stuart Shapiro about her research on substance use disorders, particularly the opioid...

Public Policy and Surveillance Tech

By Marc Pfeiffer ICMA.org, February 1, 2025 I asked Claude.ai to define surveillance technology. In response, it replied, “devices, systems, or software that are used to monitor, track, and collect information on people, places, or things.” Municipalities use a wide...

Lindenfeld & Mauri Find Uptick for MOUD at FQHCs

Introduction To reduce morbidity and mortality among individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD), the evidence is strongest for medications for OUD (MOUD), which include methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone. Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) are essential...

NJSPL: Ensuring Accurate & Equitable Vaccination Info

By Yonaira Rivera and Vivek Singh  In today’s digital world, large language models like ChatGPT are important sources of healthcare information, particularly for those who face barriers like insurance issues or language constraints. As part of the IMPACT-NJ project,...

2025 IHC Grant Program Funding Opportunities

The New Jersey Inclusive Healthy Communities (IHC) grant program has announced its latest Request for Proposals (RFP) for grants to local governments and nonprofit organizations to advance policy and systems change through the inclusion of people with disabilities to...

Upcoming Events

Event Series CAREERS

Virtual Career Drop-ins

Virtual

Stop by virtually on Mondays (except for holidays) beginning February 3 through April 28 between 11 am and 1 pm to ask a quick (15 min) career-related question of Bloustein […]