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TRENTON — The rich really did get richer in New Jersey over the past 10 years, and the gulf between the wealthiest and poorest residents is the widest it's been since the Great Depression, a new study has found.

And as most New Jerseyans were hit hard during a decade that ended in recession — with hundreds of thousands out of work, take-home pay sapped and lifestyles curbed for the poor and middle class — the bad times barely touched the wealthiest Garden Staters, the Legal Services of New Jersey study concluded.

In its first in-depth look at the widening gap between the haves and have-nots, the group’s Poverty Research Institute found:

• New Jersey’s top 20 percent saw their average income rise by 22 percent from 2000 to 2009;

• Those earning less than $34,300 — about 3 million people — took home even smaller average paychecks by decade’s end;

• The top 1 percent — the 75,000 New Jerseyans earning at least $570,000 — accounted for more than a quarter of the new wealth generated in the state during the decade;

• Most of those in the middle didn’t share in the gains, and households led by women and minorities lost ground on both ends of the economic spectrum.

"As the middle class shrinks and the number of people living in poverty or near-poverty increases, their chance of climbing the ladder of economic success is likely to diminish," the report concludes. "That, in turn, increases the likelihood that not only they but their children in the future will have diminished lives."

National bitterness over income disparity fueled the Occupy protest movement last year, and has surfaced in this year’s political campaigns. But for New Jersey, the widening gap presents practical concerns that should be addressed by lawmakers, said Legal Services President Melville D. Miller Jr.

"In a state like New Jersey where the cost of living is so high, the impact of that divide is people with upper incomes tend to drive prices up" for homes, cars, food and other essentials, Miller said. "It’s what the market will bear."

Miller, whose agency provides legal assistance to about 50,000 poor clients a year, said he hopes the report helps the public "understand the profound change that has happened, the profound nature of the gap, and consider: Is that the kind of society we want? Everyone needs to draw their own conclusions."

The report found that more than three-quarters of all the new income generated in New Jersey during the decade was earned by the top 20 percent: households earning $132,000 and more. Drop down a few brackets and the picture is different: Families earning $53,231 to $85,500 took home only 11 percent of the decade’s new income.

Women running a household were the fastest-growing segment of the population earning less than $27,300, and the share of households run by African-Americans that were in the top 20 percent slipped by 44,100.

The nation’s income gap has been growing since the 1970s. A study released last year by the Congressional Budget Office found the top 1 percent of earners saw their income grow by 275 percent from 1979 to 2007. The bottom fifth of households saw their income rise by just 18 percent.

"New Jersey’s experience tracks that of the country as a whole," according to the Legal Services’ report.

Aparna Mathur, resident scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., questioned the value of income disparity studies.

"The true measure of household welfare is consumption, and the kinds of things people can afford now are very different from 20 years back," Mathur said. People in all income brackets are living in larger homes, she said. They "buy TVs computers, printers, microwaves, dishwashers. … The world standard of living has much improved over the past 20 years."

Mathur, an economics expert, said if lawmakers feel compelled to take action to reduce the income gap, tax hikes on the rich won’t cure it. Focus instead on programs with a track record of putting more cash in the hands of lower-income families, such as the popular state and federal earned income tax credit programs, she said.

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"But could we sustain these programs, given the deficits of government? Over the past decade, the EITC has run into the billions of dollars," Mathur said. Perhaps government could better "target" these programs, "to increase consumption at the bottom" of the income scale, she said.

A plan to restore cuts Gov. Chris Christie made to the state earned income tax credit program earlier in his term fell apart last month after the Legislature and the Republican administration could not agree on a plan to reduce property taxes.

Cecilia Zalkind, executive director for Advocates for Children of New Jersey, a research and advocacy group, called the failure to restore the state earned income tax credit program this year a "big disappointment."

"That’s a significant and important program that helps put money in people’s pockets," Zalkind said, estimating the increase could have amounted to as much as $500 per family.

Those who work for social service agencies say the Legal Services study proves what they have long understood — working people are faring worse. In 1990, only 19 percent of New Jereyans who held a job relied on food stamps. That grew to 30 percent by 2010, said Diane Riley, director for advocacy of the Community Food Bank of New Jersey.

"It’s not like people want to come to food pantries or go on food stamps. They are embarrassed. We talk to many people — seniors who refuse, yet they are not eating," said Riley, who is also a deacon in an Episcopal church.

"Some people get upset about income disparity, but people generally don’t tend to blame other people," she said. "They are very ashamed and internalize more than you think."

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