Posted on 09/17/2008 10:25:14 AM PDT by Clemenza
New Jersey has lost population in recent decades because low-income residents are fleeing to states with a reduced cost of living, while those moving into the Garden State are generally better educated and earn higher salaries, according to a Princeton University study released today.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
The study on migration, conducted by the Policy Research Institute for the Region at the university's Woodrow Wilson School, shows "a brain gain" in the state despite an overall net loss of residents.
The study found that there is a modest population gain in New Jersey residents with a college degree, particularly those with PhDs, while the majority of people leaving the state are at the lower end of the income and education spectrum. In general, the study found New Jersey's state income tax policy does not cause people to leave.
Additionally, the results show a 70 percent increase in the numbers of "half-millionaires" in the state between 2002 and 2006, jumping from about 26,000 to 44,000 during that time span.
"Further, migration out of the state is almost entirely due to low-income individuals moving to areas with lower living costs," said Richard Keevey, director of the Policy Research Institute for the Region, in a statement accompanying the survey results. "The most important step to reducing out-migration would be to improve the affordability of housing in the state, particularly for low-income residents."
Joseph Seneca, an economics professor at Rutgers University's Bloustein School of Policy and Planning, said he believes the state would be more prosperous if the cost of living were lower, allowing lower-income people to stay. He said he also was concerned about the current gloomy economic outlook.
"We have an unfolding national recession where costs are going to matter ... and there are going to be reductions in income ... ," Seneca said. "It changes a tight labor market into a weak labor market."
Gov. Jon Corzine lauded the results, saying it shows "people are not fleeing the state at the accelerated rates that some pundits would have us believe."
In a statement, Corzine added, "What this study shows is that migration is a byproduct of prosperity and not tax policy. At a time when the fundamentals of our national economy are faltering, this is positive news for New Jersey."
The study was produced by Douglas Massey, a professor at the Woodrow Wilson school, along with graduate students Cristobal Young and Charles Varner. They compiled and evaluated statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau and the New Jersey Division of Taxation's individual resident tax data.
Based on the results, they also determined the "modest net outflow of labor supply has been beneficial for workers and job-seekers" in New Jersey, with unemployment in part being transported to other states. But they concluded more study is required to understand the fiscal impact of the state's net loss of residents since at least the early 1990s.
"For example, adding one million people would greatly strain government services and amenities while also presumably bringing in additional tax revenues," according to the study. "In a very densely populated state like New Jersey, population growth may be more costly and difficult to manage than out-migration."
Why do they keep electing democrats then?
If they are so smart, why are they moving to such a thoroughly corrupt, high taxing state?
Garden State Ping!
Because, most of those "smart" people are the liberally educated snobs.
can you add me to the NJ ping list?
This research is just like the research on the minimun wage done years ago that claimed raising it did nit destroy jobs based on a couple of phone call to Burger King. High income individuals have been establishing tax residency in Florida and other low tax states in very large numbers. thats the fact
These are folks educated beyond their intelligence level. They've got the fancy degree paperwork, but not much common sense.
Fuhgeddaboudit.......
I guess....... Damn. I take smart as being intelligent and having common sense and those two rarely (except in FReepers) go hand in hand.
Why would anyone with intelligence and an education move to the Garbage State, a pay-more-get-less left-wing socialist paradise with traffic congestion, sky-high auto insurance costs, some of the highest taxes in the nation, and left-wing gun control laws???
-PJ
When knowledge is not chained to wisdom, the results become obvious, narcissistic fools who think they are doing “good” when they are in fact destroying whatever they touch.
Most PhD’s have little common sense and while they may be very good at their specific field have little street smarts which is all it takes to figure out the lies of liberalism.
San Francisco, New Jersey, Boston, Chicago.....all have a bunch of highly educated elitist liberals.
This study is not worth the paper it is printed on.
There has been a massive outflow of retirees with assets out of NJ to other states: Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida and North Carolina.
There is much more to come. The outflow has been stemmed due to people not being able to sell their houses in the NJ market.
NJ is a classic case of “Atlas Shrugged” and will be one of the first states to have a Federal bailout. There is not enough tax money to pay for upcoming bills, and there will never be.
I know. I lived there for 52 years. And the notion of a brain gain in NJ is laughable.
I hate this sort of thing. What does it mean? That someone has a net worth of half-a-mil or that they make $500K a year? Very different things.
Then why do I feel so stupid for staying here with all the 'Rats?
after 51 yrs. there myself, left this past December. Couldn’t afford to buy a house there with the highest property taxes in the land...migrated over the border to PA, low property taxes definitely the draw for us.
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