Author’s Name:Laurie M. Anderson, PhD, Joseph St. Charles, MPA, Mindy T. Fullilove, MD, Susan C. Scrimshaw, PhD, Jonathan E. Fielding, MD, MPH, MBA, Jacques Normand, PhD, and the Task Force on Community Preventive Services
Year: 2003
This case study was researched to integrate into my capstone project for the multi-generational affordable housing community.
"In the course of a year, at least 2.3 million people in the United States, including nearly 1 million children, are likely to experience at least one period of homelessness."
My findings
When a market lacks a sufficient supply of affordable housing, lower income families are often forced to limit expenditures for food, medical care, and other necessities in order to pay rent. Family residential instability is associated with children’s poor attendance and performance in school; not having a primary source of medical care; lacking preventive health services (e.g., child immunizations); and suffering from various acute and chronic medical conditions, sexual assault, and violence. More than 14 million households— about one in eight—spent more than 50% of their incomes on housing in 1999. Although the federal government provides rental assistance to about 4.6 million extremely low and low income renters, more than twice as many (9.7 million) such households receive no federal housing assistance. African Americans are particularly affected by these changes in the metropolitan opportunity structure. Social, political, and economic forces have historically concentrated large numbers of lower-income African Americans in central cities, and continued racial discrimination in housing markets impedes their movement out of these areas. within the 100 largest central cities, 24.2% of all African Americans, but only 3.2% of whites, lived in extreme poverty neighborhoods, with African Americans representing more than 50% of the population of these areas. Studies have also found neighborhood SES to influence adolescent sexual activity and childbearing, behavioural and emotional problems among youth, school readiness and educational achievement, and welfare participation. For this review, a mixed-income housing development is defined as a publicly subsidized multifamily rental housing development, in which the deliberate mixing of income groups is a fundamental part of the development’s operating and financial plans. A portion of a development’s units must be reserved for, and made affordable to, households whose incomes are at least below 60% of the area median, although there may be variation among developments in the income levels of all residents and the relative representation of each income group.
Integration into research
My findings from this case study reveal that lower income families do suffer significantly in the context of other basic needs. Majority of their income goes to rental costs and close to none is left over for health, dental, food, and other amenities. Providing a housing facility that only asks for 30% of income for housing costs will provide these people with an overall better life in that they can provide themselves with the basic things that seem to be no problem for those in higher brackets. Living in neighborhoods with high poverty rates has proven to result in adolescent sexual activity and childbearing, along with behavioural and emotional problems. Parents working as much as possible leaves children unattended and in need of attentions, resulting in some lashing out. Providing this living facility will give options for childcare for the children if that was not an affordable amenity before, along with less necessity for the parents to work as much as they may have before. These small changes in their life, will assist in growing the bond between family and resulting in healthier relationships and happier children.