{"id":20294,"date":"2022-12-09T09:00:48","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T14:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=20294"},"modified":"2022-12-09T09:01:07","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T14:01:07","slug":"new-report-reveals-more-renters-are-finding-housing-is-out-of-reach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress-537697-2997182.cloudwaysapps.com\/new-report-reveals-more-renters-are-finding-housing-is-out-of-reach\/","title":{"rendered":"New Report Reveals More Renters Are Finding Housing Is ‘Out of Reach’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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At the current federal minimum wage, someone must work 96 hours a week to afford a two-bedroom apartment.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to a\u00a0<\/span>recent report<\/span><\/a>\u00a0from the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), at current\u00a0<\/span>Fair Market Rent<\/span><\/a>\u00a0(FMR), a household would need to earn an average annual salary of $46,967 to rent a two-bedroom apartment. That’s an hourly wage of $23.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rents, meanwhile, have soared,\u00a0<\/span>outpacing wage increases<\/span><\/a>\u00a0consistently for the last two decades.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Even if people are working full time,” the study notes, “they would not be able to afford housing earning minimum wage.”<\/span><\/p>\n

And according to the study, most people experiencing homelessness\u2014sheltered or unsheltered\u2014are working just shy of 40 hours, so they’re classified as part-time.<\/span><\/p>\n

“The mean annual earnings for people experiencing sheltered homelessness aged 18 \u2013 64 was $8,169 in 2015 (pre-tax income, which excludes benefits),” the study reports. “Mean earnings for unsheltered people were even lower at $6,934 in 2015 and have generally stayed lower than their sheltered counterparts during the 10-year frame of study. Accounting for inflation, even the top earners in both groups could not afford a one or two-bedroom apartment in 2022, which are\u00a0<\/span>$44,200 and $53,706<\/span><\/a>, respectively.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Stagnant Minimum Wage, Double-digit Rent Increases Leave Households Cost-burdened, Unable to Afford Housing<\/h3>\n

If the federal minimum wage had increased in line with productivity, it would be\u00a0<\/span>$26 an hour<\/span><\/a>. But it still stands at $7.25, the same as it’s been since 2009.<\/span><\/p>\n

Due to inflation, minimum wage’s value has reached its lowest point since 1956. In no state in the US can a person working full-time earning the prevailing federal, state, or county minimum wage afford to rent a two-bedroom apartment at the current FMR.<\/span><\/p>\n

And a surprising number of workers only make minimum wage\u2014eleven of the 25 largest occupations in the US, or 35 percent of the total US workforce, excluding farm workers.<\/span><\/p>\n

More than 24 million people work in the five lowest-paying occupations:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n