Severe housing costs
In Florida and Louisiana, nearly 1 in 3 renters spend the majority of their household income on housing costs.
Severe housing cost burdens by state, 2021
Percent of renter households paying half or more of household income on housing costs
In 2021, 31% of renters in Florida and 30% in Louisiana paid at least half of their total household income toward housing costs. West Virginia and Mississippi were close behind at 28%. Having to spend the majority of their income on rent puts many families in a precarious situation, causing frequent moves, frequent school changes, and school absenteeism. Children without stable housing are also susceptible to trauma and developmental delays.1,2,3
The United States has been experiencing a severe housing shortage since the Great Recession when new home construction dramatically declined — driving up home prices over the decade without commensurate increases in income.4,5 Respondents to a Southern Economic Advancement Project (SEAP) survey in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and New Orleans, Louisiana said affordable housing was their community’s greatest challenge.6
Across Southern states, only 1% of American Rescue Plan funds have been dedicated to housing as of August 2022, compared to 12% across the rest of the nation.7
“Housing stress linked with higher rates of child maltreatment”. Chandler, Austin, and Shanahan. UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. November, 2020. https://sph.unc.edu/sph-news/housing-stress-linked-with-higher-rates-of-child-maltreatment/
“The Impact of Housing Instability on Child Maltreatment: A Causal Investigation”. Marcal. NIH. February, 2019. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6377199/
“The Impacts of Affordable Housing on Education: A Research Summary”. Brennan, Reed, and Sturtevant. Center For Housing Policy. November, 2014. https://nhc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/The-Impacts-of-Affordable-Housing-on-Education-1.pdf
“A Decade of Home Building: The Long Recovery of the 2010s”. Dietz. National Association of Home Builders. January, 2020. https://eyeonhousing.org/2020/01/a-decade-of-home-building-the-long-recovery-of-the-2010s/
“Gap between income growth and housing cost increases continues to grow”. Binkovitz. Rice University Kinder Institute for Urban Research. July, 2019. https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/gap-between-income-growth-and-housing-cost-increases-continues-grow
“Two years into the pandemic, Southern families’ struggle with housing weighs heavy as lawmakers begin ARP spending plans”. The Southern Economic Advancement Project. March, 2022. https://theseap.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/ARP-Survey-Release_March_2022.pdf
“Fiscal Recovery Fund Spending by States, U.S. Territories”. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/resource-lists/fiscal-recovery-funds-in-the-american-rescue-plan
