Dawn earns an hourly wage of $11.25 operating a forklift at a local manufacturing company. She lives in a two-bedroom apartment in Everett that she shares with her three children, ages 16, 14, and 9.
Dawn’s rent costs $829 per month, which means that she has little money outside of her rent to support her family. Although Dawn has had a heart attack and lives with two stents, she is ineligible for medical coupons and pays $48 per month for medical care and $32 monthly for cholesterol medication.
Living paycheck to paycheck, Dawn is one illness, one broken car or one job loss away from homelessness. It should be possible for people like her to afford housing and still have enough money for basics like groceries and gas and child care.
Unfortunately, the gap between wages and affordable rents continues to grow in Snohomish County. More and more, low-income people are priced out of the Snohomish County rental market.
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s 2010 Out of Reach Report, the Fair Market Rent (FMR) for a two-bedroom apartment in Snohomish County is $1,056 per month. In order to afford this level of rent and utilities, without paying more than 30 percent of income on housing, a household must earn $42,240 annually. Assuming a 40-hour work week, 52 weeks per year, this level of income translates into a Housing Wage of $20.31.
Yet, in Washington, a minimum wage worker earns an hourly wage of $8.55. In order to afford the FMR for a two-bedroom apartment, a minimum wage earner must work 95 hours per week, every week of the year. Or, a household must include 2.4 minimum wage earners, working 40 hours per week year-round.
This means that low-wage workers, including entry level police officers, paramedics, child care workers, food servers, cooks and administrative assistants, cannot afford to live in Snohomish County. It means that working families are struggling to make ends meet and many are forced to decide whether to pay rent or feed their family, buy prescription medications, or pay for enriching activities for their children.
According to Snohomish County Planning and Development Services data, more than 80,000 households like Dawn’s lack affordable housing in Snohomish County. People with the lowest incomes have the hardest time finding affordable places to live. You don’t have to be an economist to know that this is bad policy.
The numbers in the Out of Reach Report are part and parcel of the broader economic and social policies affecting the opportunities and housing choices Americans face in their communities. Most federal and state efforts to revitalize the housing markets have focused mainly on home ownership. Yet, renter households now make up 33 percent of the total occupied housing units. As the housing crisis has evolved into one of the worst economic recessions in recent history and economic hardship is being felt by a wide swath of the population, it is critical that the housing challenges that have persistently plagued the lowest income renters not be ignored.
Local, state and federal governments play a vital role in ensuring that there are a range of affordable housing options to meet the needs of people of all incomes. Local governments can provide developers with incentives to build affordable housing. State government can capitalize the Housing Trust Fund, which is the most important tool Washington has to preserve and develop affordable housing. The federal government can fund the Housing Choice Voucher program, which helps to cover the gap between what voucher holders can afford to pay and what local fair market rents are. Government investments provide strong incentives for homebuilders, who must pull together a wide variety of financing sources such as bank loans, private investments, tax credits, community development block grants and trust fund dollars to develop housing.
When everyone in the community has the opportunity to live in a safe, decent, affordable home, our entire community benefits. Children in stable homes have better opportunities to learn and grow. Older adults who can afford to remain near family, friends, or in assisted living have people to look out for them. Building more affordable rental homes stimulates construction-related employment, family spending and tax receipts that help offset the current slow-down in market-rate development.
And, affordable housing provides people with safety and security, which is a foundation for life.
Building affordable housing is a smart investment, especially in tough economic times. We need to hold our elected officials accountable to bringing housing within reach for people of all incomes in all neighborhoods in our community.
Emily Alvarado is the advocacy project coordinator at the Housing Consortium of Everett and Snohomish County. Dawn Hattrick is a resident of Family Tree Apartments in Everett.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
