Out of Reach
Dear Friends:Every year, the rising cost of housing forces millions of Americans to choose between having a roof over their head and meeting their basic needs. And the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s new report – Out of Reach 2002 – presents shocking evidence that no corner of our land is immune to a housing crisis that has reached epidemic proportions and grows worse with each passing day.
This report is a summons to action in these hard economic times. Today, the average household must earn at least $14.66 an hour to afford a decent two-bedroom rental and still meet basic subsistence needs. That’s a five percent increase over last year, and is more than double the federal minimum wage and higher than any state minimum wage. In Massachusetts, the crisis is even more acute for low-income families, in which an average salary of $21.14 an hour is required to rent adequate housing and meet other needs. In no state, county, or metropolitan area can a minimum wage worker work a 40 hour work week and afford a two bedroom rental at fair market value.
As the study shows, the rising cost of housing hits hardest those whose incomes are not likely to increase significantly over time. It hurts millions of families – especially women, who make up the majority of minimum wage workers and tend to be the sole wage earner in single parent families.There are real life consequences to our failure to act. Children and families are forced into poverty. They can afford housing only in unhealthy and unsafe environments. They can’t afford food and other basic necessities. In fact, last year, requests for emergency food assistance climbed an average of 23 percent and requests for emergency shelter rose an average of 13 percent in 27 major U.S. cities.
The magnitude of the problem is daunting, but there are common sense ways to address the housing crisis in our nation. For one thing, we must make work pay by raising the federal minimum wage. It doesn’t make sense to pay hardworking people a wage that won’t even provide for a safe and stable home, much less an opportunity to fulfill their dreams.
Minimum wage legislation I have introduced before the Senate would raise the federal minimum wage by $1.50 and help improve the quality of life for 9 million workers. The increase would add $3,000 to the yearly income of a full-time, year-round minimum wage worker. Everyday we fail to act on this legislation, the current minimum wage loses more and more of its value, as housing prices go up and up. Minimum wage workers have already lost all of their gains since the 1997 increase and the real value of the minimum wage is now $3.00 below what it was in 1968.
We also must increase the number of affordable housing units and make sure they are available to the most needy. While more than 1.3 million families call public housing home, the waiting lists have grown as the number of homes produced has stagnated. Housing legislation before the Senate would create and preserve 1.5 million new rental units across the nation for the nation’s lowest income families. Creating new, safe and affordable housing is a vital component of any comprehensive effort to end the housing crisis.
Out of Reach is a vivid reminder that we can no longer tolerate the growing chasm between what rental housing costs and what people can actually afford. There is no more important challenge facing our nation today – especially for the millions of our low-income citizens.
Sincerely,
Edward M. Kennedy
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