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N.J. residents feel pinch, but have hope
TRENTON - A new poll finds that a majority of New Jerseyans believe they are financially worse off than a year ago, but that most are managing their credit and remain optimistic that their economic situation will improve.
The poll, released yesterday by Fairleigh Dickinson University's Silberman College of Business, found that 58 percent of New Jerseyans surveyed said their money situation had worsened, a sharp increase since January, when 41 percent of residents gave that response.
However, more than half (53 percent) reported they were not having trouble paying the balance on their credit cards, compared with 30 percent who said keeping up with payments was difficult. Though half of the respondents said the recent crisis in the financial markets had affected their finances, 46 percent said they had not been directly affected.
Also, 29 percent believed the situation would be worse a year from now, down from 36 percent in July. More than a third - 37 percent - said it would improve within 12 months.
Nearly 60 percent of people under 30 said things would be better in a year; just a quarter of those over 60 thought so.
The phone survey of 1,002 adults was conducted Sept. 29 to Oct. 6 by Fairleigh Dickinson's PublicMind and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
