child care - Digital Library Collections

SPOTLIGHT ON HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS
The severe ton on children. Lack ofadequate, affordable housing has adverse consequences
for all poor Americans, but the impact is particularly harsh on children. Inability to afford
housing is one reason poor families tend to move from place to place, forcing the children to
change schools frequently. A new CDP report, Poverty Matters, cites studies showing that these
children have lower math and reading scores and are much less likely to fmish high school on
time. Poverty Matters also reports findings that poor children often live in poor housing with
faulty pipes and other water leakage problems, which can result in mold and roach infestations.
These, in tum, cause many children to develop respiratory diseases like asthma, which are
major reasons for missing school. Poor children also have more than triple the average risk of
lead poisoning because of exposure to lead paint, a common problem in old housing. Lead
poisoning causes neurological damage and has been linked to lower IQ and long-term behavioral
problems.
The Doc4Kids Project at Boston Medical Center and Children's Hospital has compiled
numerous examples of children whose health has been compromised by poor housing. The
1998 project report, Not Safe at Home: How AmericasHousing Crisis Threatens the Health ofIts
Children, documents cases of toddlers who develop life-threatening asthma because of cockroaches
in summer or inadequate heat in winter and schoolchildren whose brains have been
poisoned by lead. Such health damage can permanently cloud children's futures, increasing
medical costs and impairing their ability to learn and work.
The impact on young families. Paying for housing is a particular strain for the 5.8 million
families headed by a parent under the age of 30, who tend to have low earning power and high
child care expenses. A 1997 CDP report, Rescuing the American Dream, noted that in 1993 more
than 2 million (38 percent) ofthese young families exceeded federal affordability standards by
spending more the 30 percent of their income on housing. A substantial number-900,OOospent
more than 50 percent.
Those who aspire to homeownership are fmding it harder and harder to attain. Rescuing the
American Dream found that in March 1980 nearly one young family in two owned their own
home; by March 1994 that proportion had dropped to only one in three. In the past, many
young parents earned enough income to save up for a down payment or were helped on the path
to homeownership by programs like the GI Bill. Today, With wages falling for young workers
(see chapter 1), too many struggle simply to pay the rent.
Roughly 1.6 million young families cope with high housing costs by "doubling up" with
grandparents or other relatives. Some have little choice; doubling up is sometimes the last step
before landing in a homeless shelter. The crowded housing conditions that may arise when
families try to share expenses can contribute to increases in respiratory infections, family
conflicts, and other stresses.
Dwindling housing supply and more homelessness. A key finding of the Joint Center for
Housing Studies 1997 report is that the recent revisions in welfare programs will lead to further
erosion of the nation's stock ofaffordable rental housing. The new welfare rules will lower the
incomes, and therefore the rent-paying ability, ofthe poorest people. Private landlords, in tum,
reaping less revenue, will have fewer resources and less incentive to maintain low,;ost rental
CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND 17