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housing insecurity
'Unacceptable': US Homelessness Hits Record High
"Without significant and sustained federal investments to make housing affordable for people with the lowest incomes, the affordable housing and homelessness crises in this country will only continue to worsen," warned one campaigner.
Dec 15, 2023
The number of people in shelters, temporary housing, and unsheltered settings across the United States set a new record this year, "largely due to a sharp rise in the number of people who became homeless for the first time."
That's a key takeaway from an annual report released Friday by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
On a single night in January 2023, "roughly 653,100 people—or about 20 of every 10,000 people in the United States—were experiencing homelessness," with about 60% in shelters and the remaining 40% unsheltered, according to HUD. That's a 12% increase from 2022 and the highest number of unhoused people since reporting began in 2007.
"We must address the main driver of homelessness and housing instability—the gap between low incomes and rent costs."
Jeff Olivet, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness—the federal agency behind President Joe Biden's plan from last year to reduce homelessness 25% by 2025—told The Associated Press that extra assistance during the Covid-19 pandemic "held off the rise in homelessness that we are now seeing."
Research and advocacy groups responded to the HUD report by also highlighting the positive impacts of federal pandemic-era relief including emergency rental aid, a national moratorium on evictions for nonpayment, and the expanded child tax credit.
"The historic resources and protections provided during the pandemic kept millions of renters stably housed, and the success of these resources is shown by the decrease in homelessness over that same period," said National Low-Income Housing Coalition president and CEO Diane Yentel. "Just as these emergency resources were depleted and pandemic-era renter protections expired, however, renters reentered a brutal housing market, with skyrocketing rents and high inflation."
"Eviction filing rates have now reached or surpassed pre-pandemic averages in many communities, resulting in increased homelessness," she noted. "Without significant and sustained federal investments to make housing affordable for people with the lowest incomes, the affordable housing and homelessness crises in this country will only continue to worsen."
Olivet said that "while numerous factors drive homelessness, the most significant causes are the shortage of affordable homes and the high cost of housing that have left many Americans living paycheck to paycheck and one crisis away from homelessness."
National Alliance to End Homelessness CEO Ann Oliva called for funding "urgent and overdue investments in affordable housing and rental assistance to keep people housed, as well as in proven housing and supportive service models that rapidly reconnect people experiencing homelessness with permanent housing."
Peggy Bailey, vice president for housing and income security at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, also stressed the need for a funding boost, saying that "we have the tools to ensure everyone has a safe, stable place to live, but we've failed to invest in them."
"Homelessness is unacceptable," Bailey declared. "We must address the main driver of homelessness and housing instability—the gap between low incomes and rent costs. That means expanding rental assistance for all people with the lowest incomes."
HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge similarly said Friday that "homelessness is solvable and should not exist in the United States."
"From day one, this administration has put forth a comprehensive plan to tackle homelessness and we've acted aggressively and in conjunction with our federal, state, and local partners to address this challenge," she continued. "We've made positive strides, but there is still more work to be done. This data underscores the urgent need for support for proven solutions and strategies that help people quickly exit homelessness and that prevent homelessness in the first place."
Academics and advocates have long criticized the department's approach, which relies on reporting from a single night each January. Samuel Carlson, manager of research and outreach at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, told The Washington Post last year that "the HUD data is just catching a fraction of the people."
For that night in January, HUD found that roughly 186,100 people who reported experiencing homelessness, or over a quarter, were part of a family with children, a 16% increase from last year. Additionally, more than 1 in 5 people were age 55 or older, 35,574 were veterans, and 31% "reported having experienced chronic patterns of homelessness."
"People who identify as Black, African American, or African, as well as Indigenous people (including Native Americans and Pacific Islanders), continue to be overrepresented among the population experiencing homelessness," the report notes. "People who identify as Asian or Asian American experienced the greatest percentage increase among all people experiencing homelessness," while the largest numerical increase "was among people who identify as Hispanic or Latin(a)(o)(x)."
The report adds that over half "were in four states: California (28% of all people experiencing homelessness in the U.S, or 181,399 people); New York (16% or 103,200 people); Florida (5% or 30,756 people); and Washington (4% or 28,036 people)."
While progressive lawmakers have introduced federal legislation to help tackle the issue—from Congresswoman Cori Bush's (D-Mo.) Unhoused Bill of Rights to the Housing is a Human Right Act led by Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Grace Meng (D-N.Y.)—such measures are unlikely to advance with a GOP-controlled House and divided Senate.
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We Need a 21st Century Definition of Homelessness
Policy makers, elected officials, funders, and activists need to update that definition to represent the much larger number of people who are actually experiencing homelessness.
Nov 30, 2023
November is National Homelessness Awareness Month, and it has been over 14 years since the federal government last updated its definition of homelessness. It is time to change that to reflect how people experience homelessness today, and to secure more funding to end housing instability.
An individual is considered homeless if they lack a fixed, adequate nighttime residence (including those staying in a homeless shelter), lose their residence without another place to go, or are fleeing domestic violence.
Millions of people cycle in and out of homelessness each year. And that’s just when counting by the narrow federal definition. The actual number is likely far higher.
Counting temporary doubled-up housing situations as at-risk of homelessness makes less sense when individuals are experiencing literal homelessness every other night.
As a 2016 study highlighted, many people who lose their stable housing make the difficult decision to move into others’ homes. Examples of this include a parent and adult child living together, couchsurfing with friends, or two families living together. In 2019, 3.7 million people lived in households like this, most of whom are viewed by the government as at-risk of homelessness.
But staying temporarily with a friend or family member is not permanent stable housing. People living in doubled-up households represent a wide variety of situations, and those who need help to avoid losing what little stability they have shouldn’t be denied it because they don’t match a stereotypical view of being homeless.
There is precedent for this. Since 2009, unaccompanied youth between 18 and 25, as well as families with children, have been considered under a more extensive definition of homelessness by the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Youth and families with children are considered homeless if they have not lived independently in permanent housing for a long time, frequently move, and anticipate this will continue. The definition for these groups includes doubled-up households. In the 2022-2023 school year, 61% of homeless children in New York City were living in doubled-up households.
Many individuals older than 25 and without children meet this criteria. People who experience federally defined homelessness sometimes temporarily stay with friends or family. For many of them, however, these arrangements are usually not a long-term solution, and are not an indication that they don’t need services.
Another 2022 study shows even these short stays can threaten an individuals’ priority for homeless services, such as shelters and housing, and jeopardize their ability to permanently exit homelessness.
Denying access to assistance perpetuates racial disparities in homelessness services.
A 2013 report for HUD found that Black, Hispanic, Asian, Indigenous, and other non-white households were more likely to be doubled-up than white households. Doubled-up households were concentrated in cities and other urban areas across the United States. Latinx people experiencing homelessness are more likely to live in doubled-up housing conditions to avoid living in a shelter or on the street.
To be sure, those in the at-risk category are already eligible for homeless prevention services through HUD’s Emergency Solutions Grant such as permanent rental subsidies, eviction prevention, and rapid rehousing programs. Rapid rehousing programs offer short-term services like finding rental housing, covering move-in costs, rent, deposits, utilities, and negotiating with landlords.
Homelessness prevention, however, is a small piece of the overall federal response to homelessness, with the least amount of funding and the lowest priority. Counting temporary doubled-up housing situations as at-risk of homelessness makes less sense when individuals are experiencing literal homelessness every other night.
Permanent rental vouchers keep people housed. Yet families can spend up to six years on the waitlist for the Housing Choice Voucher, a permanent rental subsidy, especially if they are only at-risk of homelessness.
Policy makers, elected officials, funders, and activists need to update the definition of homelessness to represent the much larger number of people who are actually experiencing homelessness. It is vital to dedicate more resources to those who are staying in precarious housing situations that can leave them homeless on the streets or in shelters at any time.
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An American Nightmare: The Urgent Need for Low-Income Housing
Without government action, we are on a path toward further housing insecurity and income inequality.
Nov 01, 2023
In the United States, the struggle to find affordable housing is a pervasive crisis, with millions of low-income individuals and families feeling the weight of rising rent prices. Nearly 20 million Americans who rent—almost half of all renters—are now burdened by housing costs, many for the first time ever.
Between 1999 and 2023, the U.S. saw income growth of 76.8%. Americans have seen rent growth, however, of nearly 135% during that period. As monthly rents grow faster than household incomes, people need rent control more than ever before.
Without the protection of rent control measures, vulnerable populations face dire consequences. The need for low-income housing is critical, and it is high time we recognize that, without government action, we are on a path toward further housing insecurity and income inequality.
The economic and social costs of homelessness far outweigh the potential downsides of well-regulated rent control measures.
Rent control limits the amount by which landlords can raise rent, serving as a crucial safeguard against runaway housing costs. It ensures that communities can maintain economic stability, so low-income households have a fighting chance to secure their livelihoods and keep a roof over their heads. However, rent control is often met with resistance from those who argue it interferes with the free market.
But the reality is that, without a government response, Americans risk deepening economic disparities, with countless low-income individuals and families left lacking a place to call home. Many Americans cannot cope with annual rent increases of almost 30%, par for the course in my home state of Florida.
One of the most alarming consequences of rent control’s absence is the ongoing eviction crisis. Across America, families are living in fear of eviction due to skyrocketing rents. A sudden increase in rent can lead to homelessness, pushing individuals and families into a cycle of instability that can be virtually impossible to break. This is all too common in California.
The real estate website Zillow found that, in cities where the typical renter is overburdened, a surge in homelessness isn’t too far behind, leading to an increase in unhoused individuals dying on the streets.
When a crisis is this dire, people are in desperate need of government action. The economic and social costs of homelessness far outweigh the potential downsides of well-regulated rent control measures.
Moreover, without rent control, low-income individuals and families are left at the mercy of the rental market’s unpredictability. Landlords can raise rents with little restraint, forcing tenants to make impossible choices between paying rent, putting food on the table, or accessing healthcare and education. This level of instability not only harms the well-being of individuals and families, but also undermines the economic resilience of communities.
Communities without rent control are susceptible to rapid gentrification, further exacerbating housing disparities. As affluent individuals and developers move into neighborhoods, property values rise, and long-term residents find themselves priced out. Vulnerable populations are displaced, while the unique cultural and social fabric of these communities is gradually erased.
To address one of America’s most pressing issues, we must come together and prioritize the creation of low-income housing. Investment in affordable housing initiatives, including subsidies, grants, and tax incentives for developers, can help ensure that low-income individuals and families have access to stable, affordable housing options. This, in turn, can mitigate the need for stringent rent control measures.
The most effective antidote to the affordable housing crisis lies in striking a balance between the free market and rent control. Comprehensive rent control policies, if implemented thoughtfully, can prevent excessive rent increases while still allowing landlords to maintain a reasonable return on their investments. Such policies can be tailored to the unique needs of communities, protecting vulnerable renters without stifling the rental market.
Ultimately, the stakes are now too high for further inaction. The absence of rent control jeopardizes people’s well-being, so it is time for a comprehensive approach that combines rent control with a robust investment in low-income housing, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to secure an affordable, stable, and safe place to live.
Otherwise, we risk pushing our most vulnerable citizens further into the abyss of housing insecurity, where the American dream of a stable home is nothing more than a distant, fading aspiration. And then, the American Dream truly becomes a Halloween nightmare.
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The US Housing Crisis Is 4 Decades in the Making
There is no developed country in the world besides the United States where the very ill, mothers who have just given birth, elderly people who worked all their lives, and veterans who fought for their country are unhoused.
Aug 21, 2023
Yesterday, I read a story about a family of four—granted two were very young—so excited about all the money they were saving living in a tiny house. Today, the story was about a young man who had no cash, so he has tricked out a semitruck interior. Last week it was a renovated shipping container from Lowe's, the week before, it was a fully fixed-up ancient school bus. Some of these projects look like they might be OK places to live, especially if you live in a climate where you can be outdoors much of the time—a very quickly shrinking portion of the world.
What is going on? This is the wealthiest country in the history of the world, as Noam Chomsky reminds us. I am 69 years old. The people in my generation, and even more the generation older than I, were able to purchase homes at prices that haven't been seen for decades, at sweet mortgage interest rates that made it possible in many cases for one parent to work and the family to prosper. This mostly applies to white Americans, as the GI Bill (for the WWII generation) mainly helped almost all returning white GI's become homeowners.
When I was starting to look for my own housing, amazing deals on land and fixer-uppers, as well as reasonably priced starter homes, existed and in fact were still abundant in some cities and states. Even for Black home buyers, who had been blocked by redlining (policies created by banks to keep the suburbs white), 40 years ago homes were more affordable and many Black families took advantage of relatively low prices to purchase homes.
What appears to be happening is that, like so many other long term failures, the housing crisis can be laid at the dead, unmourned feet of Ronald Reagan.
Today, there are no housing bargains. In fact, in many states and cities, there is no housing at all for anyone except the most affluent. With no real incentives from the government to build workforce housing, developers build to make the largest profit possible—and the large profits are in luxury housing. In my state, Vermont, not only is the great housing deal a thing of the past, but there are also no rentals available. Some friends recently applied for a rental in my small town, Brattleboro, and when the landlord told them he would rent to them, he informed them that he had received 119 applications, and the place was on the market for about a week, if that.
What appears to be happening is that, like so many other long term failures, the housing crisis can be laid at the dead, unmourned feet of Ronald Reagan. Before 1980, the federal government actually used to build housing. During Reagan's transformational eight years as president, he essentially disposed of the idea that building housing is an obligation of the government. Reagan sponsored a completely inadequate supposed substitute for building the housing desperately needed by a fast growing country. The population has grown by a full third from 1980 until today—the federal government has not built any housing for the 105 MILLION more people who now populate the country.
The Reagan plan, which has been an abject failure, was to give tax breaks to developers to build a small number of market-rate apartments in their upscale projects. Reagan said in 1981 that every church and synagogue should take in 10 homeless families and voila! no more homeless. He also turned his back on a scandal in which U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development money was given to Republican consultants to confer on how to stop building housing altogether instead of the intended use: building and repairing low-income housing. It seems to some that the housing crisis has happened quickly, but I would argue that it has been four decades in the making.
In every other developed country, there is social housing for those in need. In Vienna, Austria, the social housing is so desirable that 78% are renters, many by choice. The rentals are mixed income, and are a major social network in the city. How social housing is viewed in Europe varies by country, but there is nothing like the problems poor people face in the United States. There is no developed country in the world besides the United States where the very ill, mothers who have just given birth, elderly people who worked all their lives, and veterans who fought for their country are unhoused.
We will continue to see the youth, and the not so young, of America creatively housing themselves—whether it is the shed set up in Mom and Dad's back yard, the ubiquitous garage and basement apartments for the more fortunate, old, used RVs, or possibly a regrowth of house shares, communes, and other methods of keeping a roof over one's head. What is highly unlikely is that we will see a time in the near future where the current younger generation is heading to the local savings and loan for a mortgage.
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Democrats Propose $300 Billion Investment to Treat Housing as Human Right
"In the richest country in the world, it is a moral imperative that we take this issue head-on," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal.
Mar 22, 2023
Declaring that homelessness and housing insecurity is the result of "a structural failure of a country that has refused to make safe and affordable housing a priority," U.S. Reps. Pramila Jayapal and Grace Meng on Wednesday reintroduced the Housing is a Human Right Act and called on the federal government to provide $300 billion to end the crisis facing unhoused people.
The legislation would invest more than $200 billion in affordable housing and support services, $27 billion annually for services for unhoused people, and $100 million per year for community-driven alternatives to people experiencing homelessness.
Other funds would go to support communities at heightened risk for homelessness.
"Housing is a human right, and nobody in the world should be without a place to call home, especially not in America," said Meng (D-N.Y.). "This is an issue that impacts individuals for a number of reasons and sometimes isn't fixed with just a physical roof above a person's head."
The bill was reintroduced as real estate website Realtor.com released an analysis showing that even for people who have a place to live, housing is becoming more precarious across the United States.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recommends that people spend less than 30% of their income on housing, but eight of the country's top 50 metropolitan areas now have "a rent share higher than 30% relative to the median household income," including Miami, Los Angeles, New York, and San Diego.
Even in more affordable cities renters are spending more, with the average monthly rent in Cincinnati, Ohio costing 19.4% of the average monthly income—up from 18.4% last year. In Birmingham, Alabama, renters spend an average of 22.2% of their income on housing.
"As costs have risen and the minimum wage has stagnated, it would take the average minimum wage worker more than 96 hours of work per week to afford a two-bedroom rental," noted Jayapal (D-Wash.).
The shrinking stock of affordable housing is linked to the crisis of homelessness, which more than half a million people in the U.S. experienced in 2022—up by 3% from 2020.
"The crisis of housing instability is one that can be fixed by investing in housing infrastructure and supportive services for vulnerable communities," said Jayapal.
The legislation has been co-sponsored by Democratic lawmakers including Reps. Jamaal Bowman of New York, Cori Bush of Missouri, James McGovern of Massachusetts, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
The $200 billion proposed investment included in the bill would go toward McKinney-Vento Emergency Solutions Grants, which fund engagement with people experiencing homelessness and improve emergency shelters; and Continuum of Care grants, which help rehouse people who have faced homelessness.
The legislation would also:
- Create a new grant program to invest in humane infrastructure, providing municipalities with $6 billion a year through a flexible program that will allow them to address their most urgent housing needs to keep people in stable housing and support those experiencing homelessness;
- Incentivize local investments in humane, evidence-based models to support people experiencing homelessness, including alternatives to criminalization and penalization;
- Provide $10 billion for Federal Emergency Management Agency food and shelter grants while improving grants to better represent high rates of homelessness and income inequality; and
- Authorize $100 million in grants to public libraries to provide assistance and tailored supports to persons experiencing homelessness.
"In the richest country in the world, it is a moral imperative that we take this issue head-on," said Jayapal. "Housing is a human right—and every person deserves to have a safe place to call home."
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