BOSTON, MA - Add rent to food, gas and the other household budgetary items taking a much bigger chunk out of your paycheck. A report released yesterday by the National Low Income Housing Coalition shows that rents crept up again across Massachusetts over the past year, making it even tougher for low-income families to keep a roof over their heads. It now takes an hourly wage of $22.94 to afford renting a "fair market" apartment in the Bay State, up 45 percent since 2000.
In Massachusetts, most workers must be paid a minimum of $8 an hour. And even though the state rate far exceeds the federal minimum hourly wage of $5.85, social service providers said it's still not sufficient to offset the incremental annual boosts in housing costs over the past seven years. There's fear that the average bump in rents this year may be just enough to force some needy families into the street. There's also added concern because the NLIHC survey doesn't take into account the nationwide foreclosure crisis, which is pulling housing units off the rental market.
Officials said that there are 952 "homeless" individuals in Worcester. That count includes those in emergency shelters, in transitional programs, or living on the streets. Across Worcester Country, there are 1,291 homeless. The city and county censuses of the homeless population, however, don't factor in countless others who are not tabulated because they shy away from social service providers. That demographic includes many mentally ill people and chronic substance abusers who fear authority and choose to live on the street rather than being placed in a social program, housing officials say.
Nationally, the NLIHC study shows that one in seven households are putting more than 50 percent of their income toward housing. "The current increase in rents is bad enough," said Grace Carmark, executive director of the Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance Inc. "The question we have to consider is what impact the foreclosure crisis will have. I think it's going to hurt a lot of people."
The annual "Out of Reach" report by the NLIHC ranks Massachusetts as the fourth least affordable state in the nation for rental housing, behind Hawaii, California and New York. The Stamford-Norwalk region in Connecticut is considered the most expensive metropolitan area in the country. Ms. Carmark noted that struggling families today can't afford a single financial setback, such as a reduction in a breadwinner's hours of work, a layoff or a medical emergency. "The stability of families is at risk," she said. "We are seeing a bigger gap between the wages of low- and moderate-income employees and their rental costs."
City officials said rental housing is problematic because while affordable multifamily houses have been built recently, they're not being sold because lending institutions are wary of giving loans to first-time home buyers because of the foreclosure crisis.
NLIHC officials said that the weakening housing market is especially affecting minorities, first-time home buyers and low-income families. They said that cities and towns are seeing more and more abandoned or foreclosed properties and that municipalities cannot provide services because the property tax base is shrinking.
"The numbers in Out of Reach are a stark reminder that in nearly every community in our nation, families are struggling to make ends meet," said U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., in a preface to the NLIHC report. "While we have federal programs in place to assist people in affordable housing, they are relatively small compared to the great need. More must be done to ensure housing opportunities for all." It's estimated that renters make up a third of all households in the country, more than 36 million.
Source: Telegram.com