Policy Focus
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The Prosperity of the Poor: So Hidden as to be Completely Undetectable
The New York Times Opinionator blog recently posted a fantastic take-down of the “hidden prosperity of the poor” concept: the idea that the relative low cost of consumer goods means that poverty isn’t as hard on people as it used to be. Post author Thomas B. Edsall details both the liberal argument that the hardships of Continue reading
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Is homelessness something we can accept?
You’d have to have a pretty cold heart not to be moved by this story: an empathetic doctor and a homeless inventor partner together to launch the homeless man’s invention, changing both their lives in the process. The story of Mike Williams, who became homeless after a series of financial setbacks, reminds us that as Continue reading
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News Round-Up: Fighting Words
It’s time to fight for the National Housing Trust Fund. So says the New York Times in an editorial this weekend citing the shortage of safe, decent housing affordable to the lowest income Americans as “one of America’s most vexing problems.” Vexing is right. As National Low Income Housing Coalition analysis shows, there are only 30 units Continue reading
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Ending the Shortage of Affordable Housing with Housing Tax Reform
We’ve written often about the shortage of rental housing affordable and available to the lowest income Americans. This shortage complicates our national efforts to end homelessness, and makes it harder for the growing population of chronically underemployed workers to find decent housing they can afford. A significant part of this real and serious problem is Continue reading
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Affordable Housing Scarcity: How Can Communities Cope?
The research we do at NLIHC often demonstrates that the need for affordable rental housing is greatest among extremely low income (ELI) households, meaning those earning 30% or less of the area median income. The need for housing assistance far exceeds the current capacity of federal housing programs, which are only able to serve one in Continue reading
On the Home Front 