A new Harvard University study found that half of U.S. renters are paying nearly a third of their income on rent.

Single mom Caitlyn Colbert watched as rent for her two-bedroom apartment doubled, then tripled and then quadrupled over a decade in Denver — from $750 to $3,374 last year.

Every month, like millions of Americans, Colbert juggled her costs. Pay rent or swim team fees for one of her three kids. Rent or school supplies. Rent or groceries. Colbert, a social worker who helps people stay financially afloat, would often arrive home to notices giving her 30 days to pay rent and a late fee or face eviction.

“Every month you just gotta budget and then you still fall short,” she said, adding what became a monthly refrain: “Well, this month at least we have $13 left.”

Millions of Americans, especially people of color, are facing those same, painful decisions as a record number struggle with unaffordable rent increases, a crisis fueled by rising prices from inflation, a shortage of affordable housing and the end of pandemic relief.

The latest data from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, released in January, found that a record high 22.4 million renter households — or half of renters nationwide — were spending more than 30% of their income on rent in 2022. The number of affordable units — with rents under $600 — also dropped to 7.2 million that year, 2.1 million fewer than a decade earlier.

…

In Congress, lawmakers are working on a bill that would expand a federal program that awards tax credits to housing developers who agree to set aside units for low-income tenants. Supporters say that could lead to the construction of 200,000 more affordable homes. Some lawmakers are also calling for more rental assistance, including a significant increase in funding for housing vouchers.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
    852·
    1 year ago

    After failing to make a significant dent in the problem over the last decade, state and federal lawmakers across the U.S. are making housing a priority in 2024 and throwing the kitchen sink at the issue — including proposals to enact eviction protections, institute zoning reforms, cap annual rent increases and dedicate tens of billions of dollars toward building more housing.

    They haven’t done anything for decades…

    But we should believe them now in the run up to an election that after the next election they’ll really do something.

    They’ve been saying the same thing as far back as I can remember, but as soon as their elected they go back to ignoring it.

    We need to get the Republicans and neoliberals out of office if we want actual progress. Neither of them will actually fix this shit, because the people donating them money don’t want it fixed.

    The most we’ll get is billions to real estate moguls to subsidize them building high end housing that doesn’t address the issue.

    • Fedizen@lemmy.world
      7·
      1 year ago

      real estate/developer lobbies in most places fund all candidates in the US. Its hard to overstate how manipulative they are.

    • pete_the_cat@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      1 year ago

      NYC finally did something in 2019 about the predatory renting practices, such as having the tenant pay the exorbitant broker fees (typically 2x or more of monthly rent, which is around $2600-3000/month), this was now the landlord’s responsibility… Then in 2022 they repealed it.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
      5·
      1 year ago

      Get real estate developers and land lords out of the legislatures. Make it such a dirty word that being found out means your campaign is over.

      • theluckyone@lemmy.world
        4·
        1 year ago

        Let’s not stop there. Get big corporations out of the legislature. End Citizen’s United.

        If the poor folk could organize, pool money together, and spend time lobbying, we might have a chance. We suck at organizing, we’re too short on cash just trying to stay afloat, and we’ve no time to be spending lobbying, either.

  • Tolstoshev@lemmy.world
    833·
    1 year ago

    Capitalism is forgetting that the number one rule of being a parasite is that you don’t kill the host.

    • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
      311·
      1 year ago

      The rule is “don’t kill the host before you’ve had a chance to reproduce.” Capitalism is good at finding new hosts.

        • JJROKCZ@lemmy.world
          4·
          1 year ago

          Don’t worry they’re putting significant effort into that front, we’ll have a Mars colony before 2050, just about the time that the equatorial regions are getting roughed up from climate change

    • CaptainSpaceman@lemmy.world
      141·
      1 year ago

      AI advancements as well as renewable energy should be a utopian paradise for all earthlings.

      Instead its a tool to allow culling of the masses thru famine plague and war.

      IMO, eventually there will be a tipping point.

    • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
      14·
      1 year ago

      Scrambling to make it look like you weren’t just faffing off when you were supposed to be working? Like when your boss comes in and you’ve got a video game up on your screen? Or your wife comes home from out of town, and you’re running around picking up laundry and pizza boxes? That sort of scrambling?

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
      3·
      1 year ago

      If we just shovel more money at the already rich land developers and land lord corporations we can get another crumb!

  • N0body@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    48·
    1 year ago

    US Lawmakers aren’t scrambling to do anything but take bribes and engage in insider trading.

  • Maggoty@lemmy.world
    301·
    1 year ago

    In Congress, lawmakers are working on a bill that would expand a federal program that awards tax credits to housing developers…

    Stop paying them for creating the problem. Start putting them in fucking prison for hoarding a necessary resource and gouging people during a crisis.

  • Altofaltception@lemmy.world
    315·
    1 year ago

    Meanwhile companies are raking in record profits, and the rich get richer. This won’t stop until the workers seize the means of production.

  • Copythis@lemmy.world
    20·
    1 year ago

    My and utilities finally caught up to me and I lost my home about 2 weeks ago…

    The utility company here was responsible for burning down the entire town next to us. They passed the lawsuit payments onto the customers. My bill went from $50 a month, give or take $5, to $200 to $300 a month.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
      11·
      1 year ago

      I’m guessing PG&E?

      And fuck these utility companies. Private-public partnership hasn’t worked out. It’s time to nationalize the grid.

      • Copythis@lemmy.world
        2·
        1 year ago

        Yup!

        I’m thankful I have a place to stay with family. Now my money I was using toward those insane bills will be used for paying off my debt. I just need to lay low for a bit, get everything paid off, save up, and I’ll be on my feet again!

  • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
    11·
    1 year ago

    Can we stop giving these assholes tax breaks or subsidizing these shitty companies with tax money so they can prop up shareholders and get rich?

  • dan1101@lemm.ee
    91·
    1 year ago

    Doubt. But while they’re at it how about some limits on how much a property assessment can increase each year? My house has gone up 10 to 15% for the last 3 years, which causes property taxes to go up, which causes my mortgage to go up. I’m paying $200 per month more than I was in 2020.

  • Ornadin@lemmy.world
    102·
    1 year ago

    As someone who owns a house cause I’m very blessed to have had the means 8 years ago(0% VA home loan). I hope the housing market crashes hard.

  • peopleproblems@lemmy.world
    92·
    1 year ago

    Hah, I’m looking forward to not being able to afford my rent when renewal comes up in a year.

    I’ll be making $110k, splitting the place with my brother, but who knows how much goes to my ex