Dear readers, this week we dug into new analysis showing just how unaffordable rent is in America...
A new report reveals the hourly wage a renter needs to earn in order to afford housing without overloading themselves financially — and it makes for grim reading. There's not a state, county or metro area in the country where a full time minimum wage worker can afford a modest two bedroom, and in only 5% of U.S. counties can they afford a modest one-bedroom rental.
Safe and affordable housing is a basic human need and one that is vital during a public health crisis that cannot be brought under control if people do not have the ability to self-isolate when necessary. But for a huge swath of the population, this is increasingly out of their grasp.
Particularly stark in the context of a pandemic is the fact that many essential workers don’t make nearly enough. Grocery store cashiers and home health and personal care aides, for example, would have to work 83 hours and 74 hours respectively per week to afford a basic two-bedroom apartment, without spending more than 30% of their income.
“When you have such limited income to begin with,” said Diane Yentel, CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), “and pay so much of it for your home, you’re always one emergency away from missing rent and facing potentially eviction and, in worst cases, homelessness. So for many of these renters, the coronavirus is that emergency.”
What do you think? We'd love to hear from you. Cheers, Laura, Amanda and Kyla | 
