Longstanding Affordability Crisis Hurts Families

A bill called The American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010 will finally help fix the longstanding affordable housing crisis.

These living situations are in many instances not a matter of choice, but a matter of no other choice. They reflect an affordable housing crisis that has many Americans paying far too much to keep a roof over their heads—51 percent of low-income renters and 43 percent of low-income homeowners in 2007 spent more than half their income on housing. The economic downturn certainly doesn’t help matters. Elevated rates of unemployment, long-term unemployment, and underemployment are greatly harming these families as many find themselves unable to keep up with mortgage and rent payments.

Those at risk of losing their housing and doubling-up include:

• Those affected by faulty loan products, who have been removed from their homes via foreclosures while also losing what savings were invested in the home.
• Families who have a history of housing stability but who are one financial disaster—losing a steady job or facing drastic reductions in work hours—away from going over the edge.
• Those who regularly lack housing stability in good economic times and bad. For these families—which are disproportionately headed by single mothers—frequent evictions, doubling up, and/or living in homeless shelters are a way of life.