Alan Jenkins

Gimme Shelter

Yesterday thousands of Katrina survivors were evicted from hotels around the country as FEMA began cutting off payments for emergency housing. People in at least 20,000 more hotel rooms--including some entire families--are expected to be evicted by March 1.

While many of these folks have received rental assistance, it's clear that those funds don't approach what's needed to secure adequate housing. Many say they will now be homeless.

Once again, the Katrina fiasco reflects a much broader problem of opportunity in America. Safe, affordable housing and home ownership have long been pathways to opportunity in our country. But those pathways require investment and attention by government as well as the private sector. That has not happened over the past two decades and, consequently, they are now increasingly out of the grasp of everyday Americans.

Between 1970 and 2003, homeownership declined among people in the lowest income quartile. And according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, U.S. workers must now earn an average hourly wage of $15.37 to afford the cost of a two-bedroom rental unit, yet the national hourly wage average is about $14, and more than a quarter of the population earns less than $10 an hour. Of the 4.4 million "working poor" households in the U.S.--mostly families with children--nearly 60 percent pay more than half of their income for housing, or live in dilapidated conditions.

Racial discrimination in housing also continues to be a major problem. A 2000 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development study found that whites were favored over identically-qualified African Americans in 22 percent of rental housing test cases, and were favored over Hispanics in 26 percent of cases. In housing sales, whites received favorable treatment over African Americans in 17 percent of tests. Whites were favored over Latinos in nearly 20 percent of housing sale tests conducted in 2000. The same study found that Asian-American testers received poorer treatment relative to white testers in 21 percent of tests of rental markets and 20 percent of housing sales markets.

The reality of discrimination for Katrina victims now seeking decent housing was graphically illustrated in a 2005 study by the National Fair Housing Alliance which found that in about two out of three phone inquiries carried out by black and white "testers" and in three out of five follow-up in-person visits, whites received favorable or priority treatment. The Alliance has filed a complaint with HUD on behalf of Katrina victims who say they experienced discrimination in seeking temporary housing.

Ensuring equal access to quality housing for all Americans--including especially vulnerable people like Katrina evacuees--requires a national Housing Opportunity Plan. It must include investment and incentives for new affordable housing construction accessible to good jobs, schools, and transportation. It must include vigorous enforcement of anti-discrimination laws. And it must reflect the reality of today's wages and the economic insecurity that many Americans face. A realistic plan for transitioning and resettling Katrina survivors would be an important start.

Alan Jenkins: Author Bio | Other Posts
Posted at 8:25 AM, Feb 15, 2006 in Housing
Permalink | Email to Friend