Study: 24% of Americans Have Housing Problems

About 65 million low-income Americans, representing 24% of the entire U.S. population, have housing problems such as "cost burdens, substandard conditions, overcrowding, or homelessness," according to a report released by The National Low Income Housing Coalition."America's Neighbors: the Affordable Housing Crisis and the People It Affects" finds that the No. 1 problem is cost, as about 55.5 million low-income people spend over 30% of their income on housing. In contrast to previous reports based on households, this one examines individuals with housing problems, NLIHC said. "For too long the true extent of the housing crisis in America has been hidden," said NLIHC president Sheila Crowley. "We need to look past the front door to the people inside low-income households to understand how serious the problem really is." One third of the population, or 95 million Americans, have at least one housing problem, and of these, 43.6 million earn less than $25,000 a year, the study said. The most severe problems are faced by those who earn 30% or less of the area median income. The study found that housing problems are not faced by renters only: about 30.2 million low-income homeowners also reported such problems.