Recession Takes Severe Toll On Low-Income Renters

Washington - Rising rents, stagnant wages and high unemployment led more than 7 million U.S. households either to live in substandard dwellings or pay more than half their monthly incomes for rent in 2009, according to a federal report delivered to Congress on Tuesday.

During the height of the Great Recession, the number of low-income households with "worst-case housing needs" increased by nearly 1.2 million, or 20 percent, from 2007 to 2009. That's the largest two-year increase since the Department of Housing and Urban Development began tracking the data in 1985.

Very-low-income renters who don't receive government housing assistance are considered to have "worst-case housing needs" if they live in poor conditions or their rent consumes more than half their incomes.

All family types, all racial and ethnic groups and all regions of the country saw an increase in these distressed renters in 2009, said Raphael Bostic, HUD's assistant secretary for policy development.

"The loss of income, the general lack of affordable housing and the increased monthly rent burden are clearly putting a lot of stresses on unassisted families at the lower end of the income spectrum," Bostic said.

The data for HUD's report, "Worst Case Housing Needs 2009," were gleaned from Census Bureau surveys conducted in May and September of 2009.

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