NJPP today released “A Safety Net in Retreat: An Obstacle Course Known as TANF,” a new report by Policy Analyst & State Policy Fellow Tonanziht Aguas examining nearly three decades of erosion in New Jersey’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Building on an explainer published Tuesday, the report calls on the Sherrill administration and the legislature to raise benefits, update eligibility rules, and direct more TANF dollars to the families the program was built to serve.
New Jersey’s maximum TANF grant for a family of three is $559 a month — about $6.20 per person per day — and has lost more than a third of its purchasing power since 1998. The program also reaches far fewer families than it once did: New Jersey now serves just 11 families per 100 living in poverty, compared to 72 per 100 before TANF replaced its predecessor program. If the program reached families at that earlier rate, an estimated 98,000 more families would be receiving support today. That contraction has fallen hardest on Black and Hispanic/Latinx communities, who face the steepest economic barriers and make up the majority of TANF recipients.
The report calls on New Jersey to raise benefits to at least 50 percent of the federal poverty level and index them to inflation, update eligibility thresholds and time limits to reflect today’s economic realities, and align work requirements with federal standards and the actual circumstances of low-wage workers and caregivers. These reforms are more urgent given active federal threats to cut TANF and other safety net programs that families rely on, alongside cash assistance.
Tonanziht Aguas, Policy Analyst & State Policy Fellow, New Jersey Policy Perspective:
“New Jersey has made deliberate policy choices for nearly 30 years that have made TANF harder to access and less adequate for the families who need it. The result is a program that reaches fewer people each year and provides less real support than in 1998. The Sherrill administration and the legislature have a clear opportunity to fix this. And given what’s happening at the federal level, they should not wait.”
Nicole Rodriguez, President, New Jersey Policy Perspective:
“When families are in crisis, they need a floor to stand on. Right now, New Jersey’s cash assistance program is not providing that. Raising benefits, updating eligibility rules, and directing more TANF dollars toward families are not radical asks. They are the minimum the state owes to the people this program was built to serve.”
