Why America Needs a Guaranteed Housing Program

For more than half a century, the term 'American Dream' has been indelibly associated with home ownership; typically of the suburban, white-picket-fence variety. While the early years of this 'Dream' were historically reserved for white, heterosexual, married Americans with a college-educated male breadwinner and a stay-at-home mother tending to their two or three children in a single-family dwelling with a car parked in the driveway, in the decades since this rigid picture of American life has thankfully loosened and become more inclusive in both reality and the popular imagination. That said, not only is the goal of homeownership and generational wealth-creation within middle and working-class families still woefully underserving people of color, particularly the black community, but the ability to buy into the housing market at all is increasingly out of reach for current and upcoming would-be homeowners of all backgrounds. If this reality is to change, we need to take decisive action.

The modern housing 'crisis' didn't appear overnight, nor was its creation an accident. Those who own stock (aka housing units) in the current system benefit from demand outstripping supply as it guarantees near-continuous increases in value and profit margins when they sell. And here in America, the rules around housing are largely controlled locally. This has led many communities, such as notoriously protective and NIMBY-ish cities in places like coastal California, to dramatically restrict housing construction and limit the types of units being built. Homeowners tend to show up and vote in local elections at greater rates than those who don't, and they tend to contribute more to local political campaigns. Over the decades, zoning rules, state requirements and a general restriction of and increase in the cost of construction has led to the demand for housing notably outpacing the supply being built in many towns and cities around the nation, particularly in high-demand states such as California, Washington and New York.

To add insult to injury, average rents have surged alongside the rapidly rising cost of houses over much of the last several decades. Meanwhile, homelessness has seen a steady increase since the 1980s, culminating in recent spikes as housing costs continue to explode throughout much of the US. During the 1970s, then-governor of California Ronald Reagan led the charge towards largescale cuts to mental health, drug abuse and homelessness services while advocating for so-called 'tough on crime' laws which attempted to address the corresponding rise in crime with increased incarceration. These policies were then implemented ad nauseum throughout the nation during the 1980s when Reagan was president, and we've been infected with the results ever since. This Neoliberal reality introduced decades ago has torn apart millions of families while failing to solve the problems they were advertised to soothe. Such a cycle of poverty, neglect and greed is unsustainable for millions of Americans and threatens our collective safety, health and long-term stability.

Modern law enforcement often refers to a trifecta-of-sorts of crime-causing factors. A disproportionate amount of crime is committed by regular drug users, and a large percentage of consistent drug users struggle with some form of mental illness. A disproportionate number of those who are homeless are impacted by serious mental illness, drug abuse or both. This has led to a general rise in crime, drug abuse and untreated mental illness in areas with higher levels of homelessness. When the system we have in place doesn't respond to people's needs and makes achieving the stability they require increasingly difficult, all of us suffer. America is better than this, and we have the tools to greatly improve these situations if we so choose. While policy reform and greater investment in mental health care, drug abuse programs and universal medical care in general would go a long way towards addressing rising crime and homelessness, this publication would submit the American people would do well to begin looking at housing as a fundamental right for all US citizens, addressing a basic need we all have and investing in the vitality of our communities.

Currently, with rising rents and housing costs alongside steadily rising rates of homelessness, Americans find themselves witnessing the unravelling of a core piece of the social fabric which binds us. This needs to change. Since 1970, home prices have increased by 1,608%, yet overall inflation rose by only 644%. According to mortgage calculator website anytimeestimate.com, "If home prices grew at the same rate as inflation since 1970, the median home price today would be just $177,788. Instead, home prices have increased far faster than inflation, soaring to $408,100. Rises in annual income are barely keeping pace with inflation over the last few decades. Overall prices of goods in America have risen 67% since 2000. After adjusting for inflation, however, the median American household income has increased by just 7% in total since 2000 – that’s only 0.3% per year."

The website continues: "Compared to the average baby boomer entering their 30s in 1985, the average millennial entering their 30s in 2019 faced a 31% higher home-price-to-income ratio. Housing prices have increased 393% since 1985 — while the average baby boomer in their 30s paid $82,800 for a home, millennials in their 30s paid $313,000 in 2019. After adjusting for inflation, the median American household income has increased by just 17% in total since 1990. That’s only 0.5% per year." To say these quotes paint a pretty dour picture of the modern American housing market would be an understatement. Americans have collectively been losing ground against inflation and increased prices for necessary goods for decades, yet this reality isn't required and can very much be changed. We simply need to educate ourselves as to alternatives, work to educate others, advocate for better policies and fight like hell for as long as it takes to make change happen.

While there are a many examples of effective and expansive public and social housing throughout the world, there are two fundamental concepts which should be embraced and implemented here at home. First, access to housing needs to be seen and treated as a human right, with housing-first policies taking precedent over any sort of religious, work or drug abuse program requirements often tied to the anti-homelessness endeavors we have in today's US. Finland is a great example of how this concept can be effectively implemented, being the first country in the world to usher in a guaranteed-housing program for all of its citizens. According to mymodernmet.com, "In the last 10 years, the Housing First initiative provided 4,600 homes in Finland, making it the only country in Europe where homelessness is on the decline. Not only does the country now provide shelter to anyone that needs it, but the government also helps support people to integrate into their community. Social workers are available for counseling and to help people apply for social benefits. The extra support helps encourage people to find a job and become financially independent, as well as to take care of their physical and mental health."

Secondly, our guaranteed housing programs should have standardized regulations and be livable, walkable, community-oriented locales accessible to all rather than the designed-to-fail, poverty-focused public housing available throughout many parts of the US today. Vienna, Austria is a great example of this concept executed well. Per npr.org, "In the European capital, public housing is attractive and well-maintained. It's located near schools, transit and cultural amenities. It's home to singles, families and senior citizens — and most important, it's mixed-income, with affluent Viennese sharing walls with working-class residents." It goes on to say, "Today, social housing in Vienna is available to people of all incomes. It's often built on government-owned land that's sold to a private company, which then owns and operates the housing units under public oversight. And crucially, social housing is placed in desirable areas and required to meet architectural and livability standards that make it appealing to people across the income spectrum." Apparently, nearly 40% of available housing in Vienna follows this social-housing model, demonstrating a strong and enduring support from the people who call the city home.

At the end of the day, viewing and treating housing as a human right is key to moving beyond our severely flawed, overpriced, segregated, homeless-creating, crime-inspiring housing market we behold today. America doesn't need to carbon-copy Finland nor Vienna, yet it does need to adopt their related principles and use them to bring our nation fully into its twenty-first century potential. The United States is the wealthiest, most powerful conglomerate of humans in the history of our species, and if anyone can carve a path to a better tomorrow, it's us. We can address lingering effects of institutional racism, rising crime and homelessness, artificially high rents and home prices all while creating a stronger, safer, more equal America in the process. We need only demand better and commit ourselves to the effort.

References:

1) https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/15/briefing/homelessness-america-housing-crisis.html

2) https://www.salon.com/2013/09/29/ronald_reagans_shameful_legacy_violence_the_homeless_mental_illness/

3) https://anytimeestimate.com/research/housing-prices-vs-inflation/

4) https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/23/how-much-housing-prices-have-risen-since-1940.html

5) https://better.com/content/how-much-home-prices-have-risen-since-1950/

6) https://mymodernmet.com/housing-first-finland-homelessness/

7) https://www.iproperty.com.my/guides/best-public-and-social-housing-around-the-world-70972

8) https://www.npr.org/local/305/2020/02/25/809315455/how-european-style-public-housing-could-help-solve-the-affordability-crisis

9) https://blogs.worldbank.org/sustainablecities/what-about-singapore-lessons-best-public-housing-program-world

10) https://www.liberationinageneration.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FINAL_LibGen_Housing_Guarantee_Policy_Brief.pdf