Short List
Worried Lives
A majority of Americans think the country has still not escaped the prolonged housing crisis, according to a new report by the MacArthur Foundation. The study finds that Americans believe it is harder than it used to be to attain a secure middle-class lifestyle and its significantly more likely for a family to fall from the middle class than to join it.
Three in 5 Americans (61 percent) believe we are either still in the middle of the housing crisis (41 percent) or the worst is yet to come (20 percent). This is an improvement from 2014 (a combined 70 percent) and 2013 (77 percent), but the persistence of such pessimism indicates ongoing consumer concerns about housing affordability and lingering economic trauma, the study says.
More than half of the consumers surveyed (55 percent) say they have had to make at least one sacrifice or tradeoff in the past three years to cover their rent or mortgage. One in 5 (21 percent) say they have had to get an additional job or work more, 17 percent stopped saving for retirement, 14 percent accumulated credit card debt and 12 percent cut back on healthy nutritious foods. U.S. residents who are most affected include renters (73 percent), racial minorities (68 percent of Hispanics and 62 percent of African-Americans), millennials (67 percent) and city dwellers (64 percent).
Majorities of Americans continue to believe that it is challenging to find affordable rental housing in their own communities (58 percent in both 2014 and 2015), and housing to purchase (60 percent in 2015, 59 percent in 2014), and even more challenging for families at the median income level (65 percent), young adults (80 percent) or families at the poverty level (89 percent).
Four in 5 Americans (79 percent) say it is more likely for middle-class people (to fall) into a lower economic class than for people in lower economic classes (to rise) into the middle class. This belief persists across political party, age and income level, the study finds.
Decent housing at an affordable price remains a challenge for an increasing number of Americans, even after the recession has formally ended, says MacArthur President Julia Stasch. This survey is a wake-up call. People want and expect solutions to the housing crisis to be a higher priority for both national and local leaders alike.
