Nationally:
The number of affordable housing units available to extremely low-income households fell dramatically during the 1990s. By 1999, there were almost 1 million fewer units available nationwide to households with incomes below 30% AMI than there had been at the beginning of the decade. For every 10 households with extremely low incomes, there are now only 4 available housing units they can afford.Massachusetts:
According to the 2005 "point-in-time" homeless count, over 15,000 Massachusetts residents are homeless at any given time.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition’s 2006 report, "Out of Reach," found that a worker in Massachusetts would need to earn $22.65 per hour to afford the average two-bedroom apartment.
Some 74% of low-income families pay more than half of their incomes toward their homes in Massachusetts, compared to 26% in other income groups.
Supportive Housing in Boston has the lowest cost per person per day compared to other options being used:
- Supportive Housing: $33.45/day
- Homeless Shelter: $40.28/day
- Psychiatric Hospital: $541.00/day
- In-patient Hospital: $1,770.00/day
In Massachusetts, a study of 119 chronically homeless individuals found that, over five years, total health care costs for this population exceeded $12.5 million, or $21,000 per person annually. The average annual health care cost for formerly homeless people who were housed in permanent supportive housing was $6,000 annually, for a savings of $15,000 per person annually.
Connecticut:
According to studies by the Corporation for Supportive Housing, supportive housing results in the following resident outcomes:
- A 50% increase in earned income when employment services are provided in supportive housing;
- A decrease of 72% in the use of public health services;
- A 23% decline in shelter use.
According to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, 42% of renters in Connecticut are paying significantly more than 30% of their earnings for their homes, a ceiling that experts say should be the most a family pays for housing from their household income. Individuals earning the current minimum wage would have to work 102 hours each week to afford a two-bedroom home at Fair Market rent levels.