Rental Housing Affordability Dynamics, 1990-2009

Collinson, Rob

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1914505

Cited by 27 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Additionally, the lack of employment opportunities contributed to falling household incomes. From 2007 to 2009, the median income for renters, adjusted for inflation, decreased by almost $1000 (Collinson, 2011). Rising unemployment and falling wages can mean severe housing cost burdens for low-income families, such as the families in this study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Having housing made everything else possible’: Affordable, safe and stable housing for women survivors of violence

Clough

Draughon

Njie-Carr

et al. 2013

Qualitative Social Work

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Research indicates that the need for safe housing and the economic resources to maintain safe housing are two of the most pressing concerns among abused women who are planning to or have recently left abusers. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is frequently an immediate cause or precursor to homelessness and housing instability. The aim of the study is to explore abused women’s experiences accessing affordable, safe, and stable housing. To achieve the aim, adult female IPV survivors answered questions about: 1) steps that were taken to secure housing; 2) safety issues after leaving the abuser; 3) barriers to obtaining housing; and 4) responses from housing and domestic violence advocacy systems related to survivors’ housing needs. Four major themes emerged from the in-depth interviews: 1) stable, affordable housing is critical in increasing safety; 2) survivors face multiple systemic or individual barriers; 3) survivors develop and utilize an array of creative and resourceful strategies; and 4) survivors identified a variety of supportive services tailored to address their needs. The findings inform practice, policy and research for both the housing and domestic violence service systems with an emphasis on collaboration to meet the complex safety and stable housing needs of survivors and their families, particularly following the impact on housing of the 2008 U.S. economic crisis and subsequent recession.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Having housing made everything else possible’: Affordable, safe and stable housing for women survivors of violence

Clough

Draughon

Njie-Carr

et al. 2013

Qualitative Social Work

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“…Between 2000 and 2010, inflation‐adjusted median asking rent increased between 21% (in the Midwest) and 37% (in the Northeast). During the same period, inflation‐adjusted median incomes rose by roughly 7% for households headed by someone with a high school education or less (Desmond and Kimbro, ; see also Collinson, ). Sociologists have shown how welfare reform, persistent joblessness and the rise of precarious employment have contributed to an increase in poverty since 2000 (Shaefer and Edin, ; Shierholz and Gould, ).…”

Section: Making Sense Of the Momentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heavy is the House: Rent Burden among the American Urban Poor

Desmond

2018

Int J Urban Regional Res

103

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During the past decade, the incomes of poor Americans have fallen or flat-lined, housing costs have soared and public policy has failed to bridge the gap. As a result, the majority of poor renting families in America now devote at least half of their income to covering housing costs, and eviction has become a common yet consequential event in their lives. While housing is central to the lives of the urban poor, it remains marginal to the sociology of American inequality. This essay begins by charting the growing rent burden among low-income households, and then draws on the unique contributions of Pierre Bourdieu to the study of the home to sketch an agenda for analyzing the roots and implications of the loss of affordable urban housing, a prerequisite for offering policy prescriptions. The collapse of affordable rental housing in AmericaFor almost a century, there has been broad consensus in America that families should spend no more than 30% of their income on housing, allowing enough money for other necessities, such as food and transportation. Until recently, most renting families met this goal. But times have changed, especially for the urban poor. As Figure 1 shows, the number of renting families below the poverty line spending less than 30% of their income on housing costs fell from 1.3 million in 1991 to 1.07 million in 2013, even as the number of renting families in the country grew. Meanwhile, the number of poor renting households spending over half of their income on housing costs rose from 2.04 million in 1991 to 2.85 million in 2013. Today, over half (52%) of all poor renting families in America spend over 50% of their income on housing, and one family in four spends over 70% on rent and utilities. Black and Hispanic families, the majority of whom rent their housing (Pendall et al., 2005), are disproportionately affected by these trends.These figures are truly staggering, both from a historical and an international perspective. Historically, the American Housing Survey (2013) did not even have a category for renting households paying more than 70% of their income on rent. In 1975, for example, the upper bound of this variable was set at '50% or more'. By international standards, the percentage of families in the United States that are severely rent burdened is extraordinarily high. In 2010, only 4% of households in Finland and Portugal, 16.5% of those in the United Kingdom and 22% of those in Denmark spent more than 40% of their disposable income on housing (European Commission, 2013). This does not imply that rising rent burdens are unique to the American poor. The US case may be extreme--in part because severe deprivation here has no real equivalent in the developed world--but housing costs have surged in cities around the globe, from Vancouver to Zurich, Sydney to Mumbai (Gyourko et al., 2013).Eviction has become commonplace in poor urban neighborhoods. In New York City alone, over 350,000 cases are processed through the housing court each year, the vast majority of which allege nonpayme...

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“…Missed rent payments motivate the vast majority of formal eviction proceedings (Desmond 2012:101). A combination of flat incomes, soaring rents, and a shortfall of federal housing assistance has resulted in a surge in severely rent-burdened households (Collinson 2011;Steffen 2011). Today, roughly one-half of poor renting households spend at least one-half of their income on housing costs, with one-quarter dedicating upwards of 70 % of their income to pay rent and utility costs (Desmond 2015).…”

Section: How Prevalent Is Involuntary Mobility?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Forced Displacement From Rental Housing: Prevalence and Neighborhood Consequences

2015

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Drawing on novel survey data of Milwaukee renters, this study documents the prevalence of involuntary displacement from housing and estimates its consequences for neighborhood selection. More than one in eight Milwaukee renters experienced an eviction or other kind of forced move in the previous two years. Multivariate analyses suggest that renters who experienced a forced move relocate to poorer and higher-crime neighborhoods than those who move under less-demanding circumstances. By providing evidence implying that involuntary displacement is a critical yet overlooked mechanism of neighborhood inequality, this study helps to clarify why some city dwellers live in much worse neighborhoods than their peers.

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Rental Housing Affordability Dynamics, 1990-2009

Cited by 27 publications

References 7 publications

‘Having housing made everything else possible’: Affordable, safe and stable housing for women survivors of violence

‘Having housing made everything else possible’: Affordable, safe and stable housing for women survivors of violence

Heavy is the House: Rent Burden among the American Urban Poor

Forced Displacement From Rental Housing: Prevalence and Neighborhood Consequences

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