news bite: 26% of renters pay >50% income on housing (generations, insurance, cost)
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26% of (US) renters are paying more than half their pre-tax income for housing (rent plus utilities). This is the highest in over 50 years.
I have been predicting an "affordable housing crisis" of unprecedented proportions, although I thought that was about 3-5 years out from today, so it's getting worse faster than I expected.
Renters tend to be lower income; median renter income is about 40% of median homeowner income.
Some people in this forum have suggested that poor and low income Americans aren't paying enough taxes.
In the context of the high housing costs they face (see above), this is a good place to ask:
Exactly how much should lower income Americans pay in taxes?
1. A lot of these people should have roomates but don't want to. Tough luck. Amazing how many debt strapped kids there are out there that can't put on their adult pants and do without what they WANT.
2. You seem to be limiting the "taxes" to just federal income which IMO is wrong. Inclusion of sales, direct or indirect property taxes etc. are a big part of the equation too.
Example: You live in chicago making 30k a year...you are paying a TON of tax to the city in the form of sales (highest in country) and property taxes. In some areas the "rent" is so high because it includes huge hidden property taxes. I would LAUGH my butt off if they had to segment out what portion of an $800 rent was property tax in Chicago....but the politicians would never allow that.
I am 25 years old and lived with two roommates until a year ago. We shared an apartment so crappy that we felt a breeze through the outlets that were on outside walls. We couldn't run the microwave and a space heater at the same time without blowing a fuse, but I lived like that for five years and saved up enough money to buy my own house.
If I rented a nice place right away I would be on this statistic too. Suck it up and do what you have to do to take care of yourself.
I had two rules when I graduated:
1. Never take a donation from anyone
2. Never move back in with my parents
And I did what I had to so I could keep from breaking those rules.
"About 26 percent of renters — or 10.1 million people — spent more than half their pre-tax household income on rent and utilities in 2009. That’s because incomes slipped dramatically from their peak at the start of the decade even as rents kept rising." Affordable rental housing scarce in U.S., study finds - The Washington Post
In the early 90's I had 3 roomates so I'd have enough money to save up for my own house, pay off my student loans, having no car and so on.
Seems like a lot of 18-26 crowd would rather stay poor all their lives while drowning in debt with new cars, nice apts and the latest toys. Good luck with that, it's a free country.
I paid $550 a month plus utilities sharing a room. 4 guys 2 bedrooms, 1 bath. It depends on where you live. The coasts are more expensive. I got in state tuition so it was cheaper than moving out of state to a comparably ranked school.
The 18 to 26 crowd pays A HELL of a LOT more in tuition than in the 1990s btw. We aren't all drowning in debt because of penthouses and BMWs.
1. A lot of these people should have roomates but don't want to. Tough luck. Amazing how many debt strapped kids there are out there that can't put on their adult pants and do without what they WANT.
We don't know what percentage have roommates or not.
Odds are they are living in houses that are to big, and have higher utility bills then their income would warrant spending for.
Now I'm not saying that poor folks don't have a hard row to hoe, but such a vague statistic as the one posted in the OP needs more explanation. I personally believe that all income below 30K for every person should be tax exempt. But I can live really good on 30K in some areas of the country. Its just a matter of how much rent I want to pay.
Many of these folks can find affordable rent, and simply choose not to do so.
I don't think so...most renters do not live in houses. The ones that do live in houses are usually families or are several individuals sharing a house. I live in a 1,200 sf house with four other people. The guy I'm renting from has 500 sf all to himself and the rest of us have single rooms of about 100 sf each.
I don't think so...most renters do not live in houses. The ones that do live in houses are usually families or are several individuals sharing a house. I live in a 1,200 sf house with four other people. The guy I'm renting from has 500 sf all to himself and the rest of us have single rooms of about 100 sf each.
They should pay whatever the market requires. If they can't pay it, rates will go down when landlords can't get renters.
If the gov't stays out of it, it'll level out. If they keep meddling with it, they'll keep it unnecessarily high--causing further damage.
It's the government that keeps the rents sky high around here. With the very generous Section 8 subsidies for housing, it's made it possible for slum lords to make a killing on rent.
If you took the government out if it, rents would drop.
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