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THE STATE OF AMERICA'S CHILDREN YEARBOOK 1998
Spotlight on Housing and Homelessness
Safe, decent housing is a cornerstone of a child's life. Having a place to call home and a
feeling of belonging somewhere helps provide the security and stability that children need
for healthy development and growth. Unfortunately, our nation is in the throes ofa growing
housing crisis that has profound implications for poor children.
The housing conditions oflow-income families and children have worsened over the past 25
years for three key reasons: real average income for poor Americans has declined, rent increases
have exceeded inflation, and the supply of affordable housing available to low-income families
has shrunk. Rent burdens (the ratio of rent to income) for low-income families have increased
so much that a majority now spend more than 40 percent of their income on rent. As a result,
they often have inadequate funds to meet other pressing needs.
For too many poor families, adequate housing at any price is out of reach. A 1997 survey by
the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that families with children represent 36 percent of those
in homeless shelters. Many young families today are also finding that the American dream of
homeownership is just that-a dream. In past generations, the GI Bill and other government
housing programs helped young families buy homes or afford adequate shelter. Less assistance
is available today, and children pay the price. Children who are homeless or constantly moving
from one dilapidated place to another suffer numerous serious and long-lasting consequences:
poor health, missed school, and emotional damage.
Growing hardship for low-income renters. In September 1997 Harvard's Joint Center for
Housing Studies issued a new report warning that the housing crisis is rapidly worsening for
low-income renters squeezed by government cutbacks. Welfare reform and retrenchment in
government housing assistance have set up a "collision course for the nation's most disadvantaged
families," the report states. "There are definitely a huge number ofpeople that will have a
hard time paying rent as a result ofchanges in welfare," says William Apgar, the former director
of the center and now an official at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD).
With rigid time limits on the provision of welfare benefits taking effect, hundreds of
thousands of very low-income families will soon be ineligible for assistance. Although some
former welfare recipients fmd employment, they typically make less than $10,000 per year and
incur additional costs for child care and transportation to work. The majority offormer welfare
recipients continue to live below the official poverty line and have severe rent burdens. In
addition, their jobs are often short-term, leaving them vulnerable to any slowdown in the
economy.
According to HUD figures based on the Census Bureau's 1995 American Housing Survey
data, more than 6.8 million renter households had severe housing problems in 1995. An
estimated 2.7 million households with children experienced "worst-case" problems of overcrowding,
deteriorated housing conditions, or heavy rent burdens (spending more than half
their income on rent and utilities).
This feature was prepared in cooperation with Wayne Sherwood. housing researcher with Sherwood Research
Associates and former research director of the Council ofLarge Public Housing Authorities.
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