July 14, 2003

A new poll demonstrates the scope of America's affordable housing crisis. More than half of likely voters surveyed either had problems meeting their own housing expenses last year or know someone well who did. The bipartisan poll, released last week by the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, also found that 52 percent of Americans had trouble meeting monthly housing expenses such as rent, mortgage payments, or household utilities at some time during the last year or knew someone who did. Housing affordability problems extend across income groups; majorities of respondents earning below $20,000 (56 percent), between $20,000 and $40,000 (53 percent) and between $40,000 and $80,000 (57 percent) all acknowledge problems.

Even among respondents who did not identify housing affordability problems, concern about the issue was high, with 76 percent saying they are worried about the lack of affordable housing, and more than one-third of respondents said they were "very concerned." Eighty-two percent of voters said it was important that Congress provide adequate federal funding for housing for low-income people, with one-third of respondents saying it was "absolutely essential." Nearly six of ten respondents rate affordable housing for low-income people as more important than tax cuts.