Health Care Poverty Homelessness Housing and Employment - Housing

Owning one's own home has long been a cornerstone of the American dream. In 1890 less than half of householders owned their homes. Home ownership dwindled slowly until 1920, when a robust economy spurred greater home buying. The Great Depression of the 1930s drove the rate of home ownership to the century's low of 43.6% in 1940. The post–World War II economic boom, favorable tax laws, easier financing, and a revived home-building industry started a home ownership explosion that exceeded 60% within two decades. By 2000 at least two out of three householders had attained the goal of home ownership. (See Figure 5.8.)

Despite the drive for home ownership, the Census Bureau reported that in 1940 45.3% of houses lacked completed plumbing facilities—indoor running water, sinks, bathtubs or showers, and toilets. By 2000 just 1.2% of housing units had incomplete plumbing. In 1960 many households lacked amenities considered essential in the twenty-first century. Twenty-two percent of homes did not have telephones in 1960 (and party lines far outnumbered private lines) compared to just 2.4% in 2000. In 1960 21.5% of households did not own or have access to a motor vehicle. In 2000 just 10.3% of households—primarily city dwellers who used public transportation—had no vehicle while, 17% of households had three or more.

According to the National Housing Institute, by 2004 the nation's poor faced the country's biggest job and housing crisis since the Great Depression. "Today, a worker making minimum wage cannot afford housing at fair market rent anywhere in the United States," said Donald Whitehead, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) in late 2003.

Census 2000 recorded 115.9 million housing units—defined as a house, an apartment, a mobile home, a group

FIGURE 5.8

of rooms, or a single room intended as separate living quarters—in the United States. Multifamily housing was more prevalent in the Northeast. Sixteen percent of housing structures had two to four units and 21% had five or more units. While single family detached homes were predominant in the Midwest, South, and West, the West nearly matched the Northeast with 20% multifamily housing with five or more units. The Northeast and the Midwest were characterized by older homes built before 1940, while more new home construction was found in the South and West. (See Table 5.3.)

The Mobile Home Phenomenon

Classified as "trailers" in 1950, mobile homes became the fastest-growing type of housing in the later decades of the twentieth century, according to Census Bureau data. They were less expensive than other types of housing, could be located on small, inexpensive lots in parks designed for mobile homes, and they could be moved to a new location. From 315,000 in 1950, the mobile home inventory grew to almost 8.8 million by 2000. During peak growth periods of the 1970s and 1980s, 2.5 million new mobile homes were added each decade. (See Figure 5.9.) By 1990 more than half of all mobile homes were located in the South, and mobile homes accounted for 11.6% of all housing in the South. Figure 5.10 illustrates the states with the highest concentration of mobile homes as a percentage of all housing in the state. By 2000 Florida had the most mobile homes at 849,000.

Crowded Housing

The Census Bureau reported that between 1990 and 2000 crowded housing rose from 4.9% of all occupied

TABLE 5.3

Structural characteristics of housing units, by region, 2000
		Units in structure (percent)				Year structure built (percent)
Area	All housing units	1, detached or attached	2 to 4	5 or more	Mobile home	New homes (built 1995 to March 2000)	Old homes (built before 1940)
SOURCE: Adapted from Robert Benefield and Robert Bonnette, "Table 4. Structural Characteristics for the United States and Regions, 2000," in Structural and Occupancy Characteristics of Housing: 2000, Census 2000 Brief, U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Census Bureau, November 2003, http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-32.pdf (accessed July 23,2004)
United States	115,904,641	65.8	9.1	17.3	7.6	9.7	15.0
Region
Northeast	22,180,440	59.4	16.3	21.3	3.0	4.7	28.9
Midwest	26,963,635	70.9	9.0	14.5	5.4	8.4	21.2
South	42,382,546	66.5	6.2	15.4	11.6	12.7	7.2
West	24,378,020	64.9	7.5	20.0	7.1	10.5	9.1

FIGURE 5.9

units to 5.7%. Crowding, in Census terminology, is defined as more than one person per room. In California and Hawaii more than 15% of all housing units were deemed to be crowded in 2000. Crowded housing was most common in the Southwest, and in Alaska, Florida, and New York. (See Figure 5.11.)

In 2000 2.7 million households were classified "severely crowded," with more than 1.5 persons per room. Multifamily housing with five or more apartments or units was most likely to be "severely crowded." (See Figure 5.12.) Almost 36% of all severely crowded housing units were in California. The state had 1.7 million crowded and one million severely crowded households. People who rented were more likely to live in crowded or severely crowded conditions. While 3.1% of homeowners lived in crowded conditions, 11% of renters averaged more than one person per room. Just 1.2% of homeowners were severely crowded compared to 5.8% of renters.

Cost of Housing

The cost of housing, whether owned or rented, presents challenges to many families. Housing costs include utilities, fuel, water, garbage collection, and rent or mortgage payments plus real estate taxes and property insurance for those who own their homes. Table 5.4 and Table 5.5 compare median housing costs for renters and homeowners. Ranked from highest to lowest by state, New Jersey was the most expensive place for homeowners in 2003 at a median cost of $1,723 per month—43% over the national median monthly homeowner cost. The highest median monthly rental cost was $811 in Hawaii—25% over the national median monthly rental. For both home owners and renters West Virginia was the least expensive state in which to live.