Why do we see growing numbers of homeless
families?
They cannot find an
affordable place to live. In the United States today,
there are only 37 rental homes available and affordable
for every 100 households with incomes below 30% of their
area median income. The scarcity of housing that
the poorest families can afford is the principle cause
of homelessness in the United
States.[1]
Families are the fastest growing
segment of the homeless population and today, nearly 40%
of all homeless are families.[2]
Twelve
million households, or 1 in 10 spends an unsustainable
50 % or more of their income on housing, leaving little
else for food, insurance, or savings for a 'rainy day'.
In a nation with unemployment at nearly
10%, and the numbers of foreclosures putting even
greater demands on a rental market, it is no surprise
that so many families have had 'rainy days' for which
they are not prepared.
Six million homes
have been foreclosed and an additional 3 million
foreclosures are expected.[3] An estimated 40% of
households displaced by foreclosure are
renters.[4] Landlords, many of whom are over
leveraged, are looking for higher rents, even as
property values decline.
There is a
national shortage of 3.1 million affordable homes, one
additional affordable home or rental for every forty
existing homes. This past year alone, there was an
increased need for 300,000 additional affordable units
due in part to loss of existing units and the increased
number of households unemployed or otherwise unable to
afford shelter. Our nation builds 100,000
affordable units per year; but clearly it's not enough.
For every one we build two are lost to deterioration,
abandonment or conversion to more expensive
housing.[5] Preserving affordable housing built in
the 60s and 70s is critically necessary before it
becomes market rate housing.
One result of
this affordable housing shortage is that one in fifty
American children will experience homelessness before
they become 18.[6]
[1] NLIHC Letter 4/12/10
[2] HUD
[3] CBS News 2/2/10
[4] (NLIHC 2010)
[5] (National Housing Trust
website)
[6] America's Youngest Outcasts, 2009 National
Center for Family
Homelessness
