Gov.-elect Sherrill must make closing N.J.’s racial wealth gap a day-one priority

(First published in The Star-Ledger and NJ.com)

New Jersey has made a clear choice. With the election now behind us, Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill has a rare and powerful opportunity: to set the tone for an administration that doesn’t just manage the state’s challenges but fundamentally shifts who gets to share in its prosperity.

Sherrill’s campaign focused on the core and real issues of affordability in New Jersey, and that message resonated deeply across the state. However, any efforts to address affordability, must also confront a reality too often overshadowed by debates about taxes, transit, or jobs: the affordability crisis is deeply connected and intertwined with the stark racial wealth gap in New Jersey.

Our state has one of the largest racial wealth gaps in the nation, which means that white families accumulate substantially more wealth than Black and Latino families, largely because of historical and current policies that limit access and opportunity for all communities. If closing that gap is not a priority in her first 100 days, the opportunity to meaningfully improve the lives of families across our state will slip further out of reach.

The numbers are staggering. The median household wealth for white families in New Jersey is about $662,500, according to research from the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. For Black and Latina/o families, it is under $20,000 — a nearly $640,000 divide that has doubled since before the pandemic. These figures tell a painful truth: far too many families of color are living at or near the poverty line in one of the wealthiest states in America.

This divide isn’t theoretical. It dictates whether a family can buy a home, weather an emergency, send their children to college, or save for the future. It shapes whether a child grows up with opportunity or with the constant stress of economic instability.

Why we hope this is a Day One priority

New Jersey is one of the most expensive states in the country. A family of four with two young children needs over $111,000 per year just to cover basics like housing, childcare, and transportation, according to United For ALICE. With rents averaging more than $2,000 a month and childcare costs approaching $20,000 annually, many families are living in debt or just one crisis away from falling behind. The ability to save or invest in the future is not a possibility for so many New Jerseyans, especially those who identify as Black or Latino/a.

Take Shaniqua Mosely, a 34-year-old single mother of five living in Newark. She works full-time as a security officer at Seton Hall, earning a steady paycheck. Her rent, about $800 a month in a subsidized apartment, may seem affordable by New Jersey standards, but it still consumes much of her income. Shaniqua regularly faces difficult cost-saving choices: skipping laundry at the laundromat for the week or walking long distances to save on transit. She worries constantly that a rent increase will push her over the edge. Her story is not an exception; it’s a reminder that without systemic solutions, hardworking families remain locked out of wealth-building opportunities.

Where early leadership is needed

Decades of research point to two areas where early action will have the greatest impact:

• Expand access to safe, affordable housing and housing choice.

Homeownership is the largest driver of wealth in the United States. Yet while more than 76% of white households in New Jersey own their homes, only about 40% of Black and Latino households do, according to NJISJ. The first 100 days present an urgent window to reduce barriers to increasing affordable housing production and expanding support for first-time and first-generation buyers.

• Strengthen pathways to economic security and mobility.

Raising incomes, reducing barriers to advancement, and ensuring fair wages and benefits are essential to help families save and invest. This includes supporting skills training and ensuring all New Jerseyans can go to work without fear of discrimination, unsafe conditions, wage theft, or retaliation.

These are not partisan priorities. They are kitchen-table realities that shape whether families can build stability and pass opportunity to the next generation.

A first-100-days agenda

At the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, we invest in nonprofits, entrepreneurs, and community leaders working on the front lines — from affordable housing developers to rental assistance pilots to employee ownership models. But philanthropy can’t solve this alone. The governor-elect’s administration can make progress by prioritizing:

• Reducing barriers to build more affordable housing, opening doors to first-time home buyers and expanding eviction-prevention help.
• Enforcing wage protections, reducing employment barriers, and ensuring work leads to stability.
• Lowering household costs like childcare and utilities that keep families from saving.
• Boosting incomes and increasing opportunities to build wealth through job training and placement programs and expanded employee ownership strategies.
• Partnering with philanthropy and community groups to test and scale solutions.

Of course, equity is not the only challenge facing our state. New Jerseyans are rightly concerned about property taxes, transportation reliability, the climate crisis, and other issues. And yes, by many measures, ours is one of the best states to live in with strong schools, vibrant communities, and a reputation for progressive values.

But these truths can exist alongside deep inequities. A high average quality of life masks how unevenly that quality is distributed. The same systems that make New Jersey prosperous for some have left others behind. Addressing inequity is not a distraction from the rest of our priorities; it is what makes every other goal achievable and sustainable. A vision that includes everyone is what make New Jersey great.

The work ahead

Sherrill has the chance to make New Jersey the national leader in inclusive growth. The path is clear: address inequity early, boldly, and across agencies.

Ignoring the racial wealth gap will leave us a state divided between haves and have-nots. Tackling it head-on can make New Jersey a model for shared prosperity.

Her first 100 days will tell us which future she intends to build, and we are hopeful it signals a New Jersey where everyone thrives.