More renters than ever now spend too much of their incomes on housing, Harvard study finds | MarketWatch
In recent years, the cost of renting a home in the United States has skyrocketed, leaving millions of tenants struggling to make ends meet. According to a new report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, the number of renters spending more than 30% of their incomes on rent and utilities reached a record high of 22.4 million in 2022. This phenomenon is known as being “rent-burdened,” and it’s a significant concern for many households.
To put it in perspective, housing is typically considered affordable if it consumes no more than 30% of one’s gross income. However, the report revealed that half of all U.S. renters in 2022 exceeded this threshold, a 3.2 percentage point increase from 2019 before the pandemic. Even higher-income households earning $75,000 or more found themselves increasingly burdened by rent costs, with a 2.2 percentage point rise.
Despite a slowdown in rent increases since 2022 due to more housing options becoming available, wages have not kept pace with rising rental costs. Median rents have surged by 21% (inflation-adjusted) since 2001, while median annual income has only risen by 2% during the same period. This imbalance has hit lower-income renters the hardest, with 83% of those making less than $30,000 annually experiencing cost burdens.
With the cost of rent dominating household budgets and the threat of eviction and homelessness looming for many, the housing affordability crisis has reached critical levels. The report also highlighted a disturbing trend of increasing homelessness, with a record 653,100 people homeless as of January 2023………..
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Rising Dough
How can the intricate connections between the housing market, rental costs, and income levels be better understood, and what role should government policies play in addressing the housing affordability crisis to ensure a brighter future for millions of people?
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The government should play a role in providing significant tax subsides for homeownership and guaranteeing mortgage loans. The government should also change the land use regulations that limits the how much housing can be built.
Whatever the average American ir person earns should relate to the hosing options available. Getting a house shouldn’t take years to accomplish and renting one shouldn’t take a big chunk out of your pay because you need that for your necessities, savings, and things you want. Having a government policy that either decrease the hosing option available or increasing the wages to a point where this isn’t a problem should be considered and emplemented.