Featured Report
Implementation of Paid Family Leave in New Jersey: A Promising Work in Progress
Though New Jersey is one of the first states to offer working parents Paid Family Leave, many people who would benefit from the program don’t use it. A report from the Center for Women and Work at Rutgers University offers ways to increase participation.
Learn More About Our Work
Structural racism, compounded through generations of policies and practices, causes different New Jersey populations to experience vastly different realities. Our work seeks to address the drivers of inequitable health conditions in three key areas: birth equity, affordable housing, and public health infrastructure reform.
Advancing Birth Equity in New Jersey
Black people in New Jersey are seven times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than White people. To end such disparities, the systems that serve populations of color need targeted improvements in prevention, care, and support.
Making Safe, Affordable Housing Available To All
New Jersey has among the highest housing costs in the country and millions of residents—largely people of color—are segregated and effectively shut out of opportunities to live in the kinds of homes and communities to which they aspire. This is a major barrier to good health.
Creating a Stronger Public Health Infrastructure
The COVID-19 pandemic called attention to—and worsened—the impact of racism and inequity on the lives of people of color and residents with low incomes. As New Jersey turns to recovery and repair, a revitalized public health system is crucial to making sure history does not repeat itself.
We also partner with the following organizations to provide resources, research and technical assistance to help the residents of our home state live their healthiest lives.
In the News
Maisha Simmons guests on ‘State of Affairs with Steve Adubato’
RWJF’s director of New Jersey Grantmaking explains that COVID-19 worsened racial disparities in health and discusses the need for more equitable maternal and infant health outcomes.
Op-Ed: Healing NJ’s communities, pandemic recovery must address health equity
We must work in tandem to produce and implement scalable, sustainable, data-informed interventions to improve the health and well-being of all communities
New Jersey has one of the nation’s best Paid Family Leave programs. Why don’t more people use it? Opinion
In New Jersey, we are fortunate to have one of the few state-level Paid Family Leave programs. Yet it is woefully underutilized.
New data reveals childhood obesity to be urgent health threat in New Jersey Opinion
The COVID-19 pandemic burdens children in ways we can’t fully comprehend. One facet of this in New Jersey is childhood obesity, particularly among children of color.
Reducing Racial Disparities in Housing in New Jersey
Reducing Racial Disparities in Housing in New Jersey
Reducing Racial Disparities in Housing in New Jersey
An RWJF webinar discusses solutions needed so people in New Jersey have equitable opportunity to live in safe, affordable homes and neighborhoods.
An RWJF webinar discusses solutions needed so people in New Jersey have equitable opportunity to live in safe, affordable homes and neighborhoods.
Reducing Racial Disparities in Housing in New Jersey
An RWJF webinar discusses solutions needed so people in New Jersey have equitable opportunity to live in safe, affordable homes and neighborhoods.
Investing in the Ongoing Legacy of our Founder
Since 1972, RWJF has dedicated more than $1.2 billion toward a broad set of issues, including health, child poverty, food insecurity, civic life, and arts and culture, and supported key institutions in our home state. Many of our grants advance causes and issues that RWJF’s founder, General Robert Wood Johnson II, supported during his life. Learn more about our history.
Additional Resources
- Map: Where You Live Determines How Long You Live
- A Policy Roadmap to Help All New Jerseyans Live Their Healthiest Lives
- Video: NJ Community Efforts for COVID-19 Relief
- Poll Uncovers Severe NJ Housing Disparities
- City Health Dashboard
- Catchafire New Jersey
- County Health Rankings & Roadmaps