Saturday, March 12, 2016

Public housing: less there than meets the eye


Regardless of your political view of public housing, here’s a not-so-fun fact:

Most of the folks who qualify for public housing—because they can’t get decent housing privately with their own resources—don’t actually live in public housing.

Why?

The existing stock of public housing is only sufficient for 1 out of 4 of the families who are poor enough to qualify for it.

Three-quarters of the families who would think public housing is a step up can’t take that step, because there is no place for them to step up to.



Try to imagine what it’s like to live where they live now.








Matthew Desmond, in the March 6 Sunday New York Times, extends the perspective by asking this question:
“What if food stamps only covered one in four families?”

By the way, just for the record: there are more white (non-Hispanic) folks getting benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program than any single minority. SNAP administers the food stamp program. About 20 million white folks get food stamps. About 15 million black folks get food stamps. You get the picture.








Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2016 All rights reserved.

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