NLIHC has released a Spanish version of its 2018 edition of The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes report (La Brecha: Escasez de Viviendas de Alquiler Asequibles). Based on American Community Survey data, The Gap/La Brecha documents the gap between the number of renter households and rental units that are affordable and available to them, as well as housing cost burdens, by income groupings in every state and the largest 50 metropolitan areas. The report shows that America is experiencing an extreme shortage of affordable homes, especially for those with the lowest incomes.
The Gap/La Brecha report finds a shortage of over 7 million affordable and available rental homes for extremely low income (ELI) renter households. There are just 35 affordable and available units for every 100 ELI renter households nationwide. The report finds that approximately 8 million ELI households spend more than half of their extremely modest incomes on housing and utilities, making them severely housing cost-burdened and leaving them inadequate resources to cover other essential needs like food, transportation, health care, education, and emergencies.
The 2018 edition of The Gap/La Brecha also features NLIHC research on the demographic, racial, economic, and other characteristics of extremely low income renters in America. The report shows, for example, that extremely low income renters are more likely than other renters to be seniors or disabled or to have children, indicating their potentially greater vulnerability to hardship. Forty-six percent of extremely low income renter households are seniors or disabled, compared to 26% of other renter households. Among extremely low income renter households that are severely housing cost-burdened, 40% are disabled or seniors, 44% are in the labor force, and another 4% are in school. The report dispels a number of common myths too often associated with “poor people.”
Read or download La Brecha at: https://bit.ly/2Khov8e