Report Makes 'The Case for Social Housing'

Doug Trumm shares news of "The Case for Social Housing," a report published in November by the Justice Collaborative Institute and written by Daniel Aldana Cohen and Mark Paul.

The report "calls for the federal government to reverse that in a big way and produce twelve million social housing units by 2030, echoing a proposal from Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minneapolis)," according to Trumm.

"There has never been a better time to invest in a substantial buildout of social housing,” according to passage selected by Trumm to highlight the arguments of the report. "The A collecting, or waiting for, unemployment benefits. Industrial capacity is running 30% below potential, meaning plenty of factories could be kicked into gear to churn out building essentials."

An earlier article by Kriston Capps also picked up the news of the report, parlaying the report's argument into some informed speculation about the likelihood that the Biden administration might restore the federal government's role in developing social housing—a role mostly abdicated at the federal level since the Regan administration.

According to the report, the coronavirus pandemic has strengthened public support for the idea of the federal government developing social housing. "A recent poll conducted by the Justice Collaborative Institute and the left-leaning policy shop Data for Progress finds that 63% of likely voters support federal investment in social housing," writes Call to summarize the public support claimed in the report. "Some 56% of Republicans said they would support social housing (along with nearly 80% of Democrats)."

According to Capps, the Biden administration will face a narrow window of opportunity to set an agenda amidst a wide variety of needs and multiple crises. According to the report, a large federal investment in social housing could meet multiple needs at once.