Capital Wired

Keeps You Updated

Sunday, April 18, 2021
Log in
  • Headlines
  • Business
  • Health
  • Tech & Science
  • Sports
  • World
  • US
  • Latest News
    • How To Make Your Own Home-Brewed Morphine
    • Using Mouthwash Too Often Puts You at Risk of Obesity and Diabetes
    • Walmart to Solve its Supply Chain Issues and Further Cut Down on Costs
    • The World’s Most Expensive Christmas Decorations
    • Netflix Hopes to Balance Data Limit With Great Video Quality
    • Joji Morishita says Japan Will Resume Whaling
    • The Most Beloved Plastic Surgeries Among Americans
    • Skype for Web Allows Non-Users to Take Part In Its Online Chats

Pages

  • About Capital Wired
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy GDPR
  • Reprint & Licensing
  • Staff
  • Terms of Use

Recent Posts

  • Here’s Why Your Brain Keeps Worrying about Everything June 29, 2018
  • Don’t Throw That Sunscreen after Summer Is Up June 29, 2018
  • Analysts: Currency War between U.S. and China Might Be Looming June 28, 2018
  • Starbucks Rival The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Opening 100 Shops June 27, 2018
  • Study Finds We Are Alone in the Universe June 26, 2018
  • Restaurant Owner Not Sorry for Booting Sarah Sanders June 26, 2018
  • Beware of the Hidden Salt in Your Food! June 25, 2018

More and More Americans Spend Half of their Income on Housing Costs

May 2, 2015 By Deborah Nielsen 1 Comment

Email, RSS Follow

More and More Americans Spend Half of their Income on Housing Costs

An Enterprise Community Partners’ report shows that one in four U.S. renters spends at least half of their income on rent and utilities. According to the report, Americans would rather pay a rent than own their own house although the number of households which spend half of their income on housing increased 26 percent to more than 11 million over the last eight years.

According to the Labor Department, average hourly wages couldn’t keep up the pace with rental prices because the latter surged by nearly twice the wages’ levels across the country over the last five years.

Angela Boyd from Enterprise Community Partners, a non-for-profit group aimed at facilitating affordable housing, explained that one in four renters face a daily dilemma about finding enough money to both pay their rent and buy food for the family.

Analysts explained that the current situation was an outcome of the 2008 financial crisis for several reasons. First, incomes failed to keep pace with inflation and rental prices. Second, US home builders were too slow to cater for the needs of renters. Also, the crisis forced bankrupted homeowners, low-wage workers and millennials, who often live with their parents, to rent a house.

The recession also madepushed more than 2 million U.S. families on the verge of homelessness. It is the case of Lisette Duarte, a LA mom who now pays a rent for an apartment located in a peripheral area of the city.

Mrs. Duarte’s husband was laid off in 2012. Since both their children needed an adult to stay close to them 24/7 due to an autistic disorder, he decided to stay home and let his wife continue with her job which also involved a 90-minute commute on a daily basis.

As they couldn’t afford their three-bedroom apartment anymore they had to move into a hotel. In 2014, they used some savings and vouchers to move in their current apartment. They currently pay about $1,600 per month on rent and utilities. Half of Mrs. Duarte’s income is used to cover housing costs. Federal agencies define housing costs as “burdensome” if they exceed 30 percent of the family’s income.

The Duartes currently have to make some sacrifices – they do not dine out, the use prepaid phones, and they never go on vacations. The savings they manage to make are usually spent on health care.

The new report also found that the states with the most renters that spend more than half of their income on housing costs are Florida, New York, New Jersey, and California. More than 30 percent of people paying a rent in those states struggle with high housing costs relative to their incomes.

The latest report is also consistent with government data. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that 12 million U.S. households have to sacrifice more than 50 percent of their incomes on housing costs.

Harvard University researchers found that 27 percent of renters were in the above-mentioned situation eight years ago. Although today’s figures may be even more terrifying, the Harvard team concluded that 27 percent was “unimaginable just a decade ago.”

Image Source: World Property Journal

Email, RSS Follow

Deborah Nielsen

Deborah Nielsen never thought she could be a journalist and a good one, we might add. Having a strong passion for music, she started singing at an early age, but it was only in college that she formed her first band. Her music education won her a job as a news reporter at the local radio station as well as the chance of meeting her favorite artists. In 2013, Deborah took things forward by starting her own blog and contributing to various news related websites. Currently, she covers a broad area of subjects and topics from various fields.

Filed Under: Business

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent Articles

dc logo on black galaxy background

Ava DuVernay to Direct DC’s New Gods Adaptation

March 16, 2018 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

leonardo davinci's signature in black

Is DaVinci’s Record Breaking Painting Authentic?

November 20, 2017 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

stephen hawking

Stephen Hawking Makes Gloomy Prediction For Earth In A 100 Years

May 7, 2017 By Deborah Nielsen Leave a Comment

"Dwayne Johnson not dead"

Dwayne Johnson Died this Week or Not

January 19, 2016 By Jason Leathers 3 Comments

There Are At Least Three More Seasons of Game of Thrones To Go

July 31, 2015 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

Homelessness Soars in L.A., Officials Pledge to House Everybody by 2016

May 12, 2015 By Brian Galloway Leave a Comment

FBI Releases National Report on Slain Police Officers, Figures are Alarming

May 12, 2015 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

New York Nuclear Plant Partially Shut Down due to Hudson Oil Slick

May 11, 2015 By Jason Leathers 2 Comments

Obama Draws Heat from Democrats over Asia Trade Deal

May 9, 2015 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

Florida Governor Changes Stance on Obamacare Once More, Budget on Hold

May 9, 2015 By Brian Galloway Leave a Comment

Secret Service to add an Extra Layer of Spikes to White House Fence

May 8, 2015 By Chen Lai Leave a Comment

Police Arrested Suspect in death of Student who tried to Sell Car on Craigslist

May 8, 2015 By Deborah Nielsen 1 Comment

AccuWeather.com: 2015 Atlantic Tropical Storm Season is Officially Open

May 7, 2015 By Deborah Nielsen Leave a Comment

Illinois Student Found Dead after Trying to Sell his Car on Craigslist

May 7, 2015 By Deborah Nielsen 2 Comments

Related Articles

  • The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf coffee shop

    Starbucks Rival The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Opening 100 Shops

    Jun 27, 2018
  • People dating online

    Tinder’s Parent Company Buying Sizable Stake in Tinder Rival

    Jun 21, 2018
  • Walmart store

    Arizona Man’s Fake Returns Cost Walmart $1.3M

    Jun 18, 2018
  • Google office in Spain

    Hispanic and Black Workers More Likely to Leave Google

    Jun 15, 2018
  • Amazon headquarters

    Seattle Backpedaling on ‘Head Tax’ amid Amazon Pressure

    Jun 12, 2018
  • North Korea lead Kim Jong-un

    North Korea Could Turn to Cryptocurrencies to Fend Off Sanctions

    Jun 6, 2018
  • Seattle skyline

    Seattle Passes Controversial Head Tax on Companies Making 20M/Year

    May 17, 2018
  • Call blocker

    FCC Hands Out Its Biggest Robocalling Fine to Date

    May 11, 2018
  • French flag blowing in the wind.

    California Man Fighting France over ‘France.com’ Domain

    Apr 30, 2018
  • Subway restaurant

    Subway Shutting Down 500 More Locations in the U.S.

    Apr 26, 2018

Categories

  • Business
  • Headlines
  • Health
  • Sports
  • Tech & Science
  • US
  • World

Copyright © 2021 capitalwired.com

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Contact