Affordable housing crisis in the United States
SOC 436 Topic 3 Discussion Question 2
List three consequences to the affordable housing crisis and identify at least one social problem related.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Affordable housing crisis in the United States
Introduction
There’s a housing crisis in the United States. The number of families that need rental assistance has grown by more than 20% over the past decade, and low- to moderate-income people are losing access to affordable homes at an alarming rate. Clearly, something is seriously wrong with our housing market. But what exactly is going on? To understand the causes of this crisis and how we can improve it—and prevent another one—let’s take a closer look at what causes affordable housing shortages today:
What is affordable housing?
Affordability is the state of being affordable. It’s generally used to describe housing, but it can also be applied to other things such as food and transportation.
Affordable housing is a home that costs less than 30% of your household’s income. This means that even if you make $100K per year, your mortgage payment would still be less than 30% of your monthly take-home pay (which was calculated from information from [www]www.rentjungle.com).
Affordable housing can either be subsidized by the government or it could be purchased outright with low down payments and little to no interest rates because there are many financial assistance programs available for qualifying families who need help making ends meet!
Why is there a crisis?
The crisis is driven by a combination of factors. First, rents are rising faster than wages, meaning it’s more difficult for low-income earners to save up enough money for a down payment on a house or retirement account. Second, there aren’t enough affordable housing units available for people who need them most — those who live in high-cost areas and can’t afford even modest increases in rent prices.
Federal housing regulations have been getting less and less strict over the past decade.
The U.S. government has made it harder for people to access affordable housing, especially those who are low-income or disabled. The main reason for this is that the federal government has reduced its efforts to regulate the market and promote racial justice in housing policies.
The Fair Housing Act was passed by Congress in 1968 to prevent discrimination based on race, color or national origin within communities across America; however, since then there have been numerous evolutions of this law as well as other regulations which have restricted access to quality homes for all Americans regardless of their income level or disability status (Stock).
The federal government has made housing funds harder to get by lowering standards.
The federal government has made housing funds harder to get by lowering standards.
The federal government has changed the requirements for getting federal housing funds. For example, they lowered the standards for how much money you need to make to get these grants and loans, which means that many people who would otherwise qualify can’t because they make too much money or don’t have enough credit history.
What happens if we don’t address the crisis?
If we don’t address this crisis, more people will be homeless and live in poverty. More families will be forced to live with family members or strangers because they can’t afford rent anymore. And many more people will be forced to live in unsafe housing conditions as a result of the lack of affordable housing options available to them.
If you’re concerned about this issue and want to help, consider making a donation today!
How can we fix it?
If you’re looking for a solution, the federal government needs to fund affordable housing more generously. That means passing legislation that makes it easier for people to get into the affordable housing market and creating new programs that allow developers to build more homes at lower costs. In addition, cities across the country should be encouraged by federal policy makers to build more publicly owned rental units and rent them out at below market rates so that even more families can afford housing in their communities.
The federal government could choose to fund public housing more generously.
The federal government could choose to fund public housing more generously.
It should be noted that the federal government has a responsibility for maintaining affordable housing, but it does not spend enough money on this task. For example:
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Public housing is a very important part of America’s social safety net, but it receives less funding than other programs like Medicaid and Medicare.
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Section 8 vouchers help low-income families find homes in different areas within their state or city so they can better participate in the economy at large; however, Congress has failed to provide adequate funding for these vouchers since 2010 as part of its budget negotiations with Republicans who oppose increases in spending on social services (such as food stamps).
We need to make more affordable housing available to poor Americans.
It’s time for the federal government to put more money into affordable housing. The federal government should make it easier for people to get housing vouchers, loans for affordable housing and public housing.
The United States has a great opportunity here; we have some of the best people in the world working on this problem right now. But if we don’t do something soon, our country will suffer from this crisis forever because there won’t be enough jobs or houses available when they’re needed most: during recessions or economic downturns (like 2008).
Conclusion
In conclusion, we have seen that there is a housing crisis in the United States. A great deal of this has been caused by federal regulations which are letting developers get away with building luxury homes and apartments that cost more than people can afford. We need to make sure that regulations stick by enforcing them more strictly and making public housing available to all Americans who need it most.
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