The amount a person or family pays for their housing must not be so high that it threatens or compromises the attainment and satisfaction of other basic needs.
Q. What housing options are there for low-income and minimum wage earners in the United States?
A. Neither home-ownership nor rental housing is affordable to the lowest-wage earners in the United States. There is no jurisdiction in the country where a full-time minimum wage earner can afford even a one-bedroom apartment. The disparity between wages and rents is most striking in urban areas.
Q. Is this lack-of-affordability getting better?
A. Between 2001 and 2004, households spending more than 50% of their income on housing increased by almost 2 million, with almost two-thirds of that increase falling on very low-income families. (In 2003, most extremely low income renters spent over 50% of their income on housing.) This trend is expected to continue, furthered by an expected increase in the number of low-income service jobs. To make matters worse, not only has the cost of existing units increased disproportionately, but the number of housing units available to low-income wage earners has decreased significantly as well.
Q. What about government subsidized housing?
A. Government subsidized housing does not come close to meting the need for affordable housing. Only one in three households eligible for assistance receives it.
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