The Center for American Progress, an Opportunity Starts at Home (OSAH) campaign Roundtable member, has published an article challenging the claim that immigration has led to the affordable housing crisis and arguing for affordable housing policy solutions to address both housing supply and demand.
The article compares data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on the foreign-born labor force and CoreLogic National Home Price Index and finds that there is no correlation between increases in housing costs and increases in the number of foreign-born workers. The article also compares data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics with data from the New Tenant Rent Index and finds that immigration does not lead to increased rents on new apartment leases. The article goes on to highlight the importance of immigration in the creation of affordable housing, as foreign-born workers make up about one-fourth of the construction workforce, and this workforce is critical in efforts to increase the supply of housing. For many generations, immigrants have also helped to revitalize and stabilize communities throughout the country by spurring economic growth, preserving important industries, and increasing local tax bases. The article concludes by sharing concrete federal policy actions that can make housing more affordable, including expanding funding for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program and expanding funding to state and local governments toward the construction of more affordable rental units.
Read the article here.