California's Housing Crisis Affects Us All

Many low-income families pay over half of their income on rent and still live in substandard housing; the Citizens Task Force on Slum Housing reports that one in nine apartments in Los Angeles is below par. Breidenbach and Dreier add that the housing crisis adversely affects businesses, for there is less disposable income to spend on goods and services. While the booming economy has created many low-wage jobs, there has not been enough affordable housing created to place the workers. Raising the minimum wage and increasing the amount of affordable housing are the obvious solutions, the authors assert, and businesses, community groups, and nonprofits need to push state and federal agencies to address these housing issues through programs such as income tax credits, housing vouchers and subsidies, and raising minimum wage in the state.

Thanks to California 2000 Project