166,090 renters and 6,525 homeless people in Wisconsin are barely hanging on. How much more will this increase with Walker’s assault on Wisconsin and the Federal slash and burn of the HUD budget? Check out these numbers: A little over 10% of renters get assistance, 40% being elderly, 26% disabled, 26% families with children and the last 8% being single people. 44% of renters in Wisconsin pay over 30% of their income towards rent, leaving over 1/3 of renters needing assistance.
From the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:
About 31 percent of all Wisconsin households – or 701,295 households – are renters. Federal rental assistance programs enable more than 79,427 low-income households in Wisconsin to rent modest housing at an affordable cost. About 66 percent of these households are headed by people who are elderly or have disabilities; approximately 26 percent are families with children.
Yet federal programs reach only a small share of the low-income Wisconsin households that pay unaffordable rental housing costs and are therefore at increased risk of homelessness and other types of housing instability:
• In Wisconsin, 166,090 low-income renter households pay more than half their monthly cash income for housing costs. On average, these households have incomes of $833 and pay housing costs of $760, leaving only $73 to pay for other necessities. About 38 percent of these cost-burdened renters are elderly or people with disabilities, while 27 percent are families with children.
• When housing costs consume more than half of household income, low-income families are at greater risk of becoming homeless. Point-in-time surveys suggest that at least 6,525 people are homeless in Wisconsin.
Federal Assistance in WI
Housing Choice Vouchers
– Number of units – 26,279
– Extremely low income – 75%
– Elderly – 18%
– Disabled – 32%
– Families with children -41%Public Housing
– Number of Units 13,097
– Extremely low income – 66%
– Elderly – 39%
– Disabled – 29%
– Families with children – 22%Section 8 Project-Based Rental Asst.
– Number of units – 31,549
– Extremely low income – 72%
– Elderly – 49%
– Disabled – 25%
– Families with children – 21%Supportive Housing for Elderly and People with Disabilities (202/811)
– Number of units – 2,061
– Extremely low income – NA
– Elderly – 73%
– Disabled – 25%
– Families with children – 0%RAP/Rent Supplement
– Number of Units – 54
– Extremely low income – NA
– Elderly – 57%
– Disabled – 34%
– Families with children – 0%Section 8 Moderate Rehab.
– Number of units – 177
– Extremely low income – 84%
– Elderly – 2%
– Disabled – 15%
– Families with children – 43%USDA Section 521 Rental Asst.
– Number of units – 6,209
– Extremely low income – NA
– Elderly – 78%
– Disabled – NA
– Families with children – NATotal
– Units – 79,427
– Extremely low income – NA
– Elderly – 40%
– Disabled – 26%
– Families with children – 26%Characteristics Of Low-Income Renters With Unaffordable Housing Costs In Wisconsin, 2009
Housing costs greater than 30% of income
– Units – 309,026
– Extremely low income – 55%
– Elderly – 20%
– Disabled – 16%
– Families with children – 27%Housing costs greater than 50% of income
– Units – 166,090
– Extremely low income – 83%
– Elderly – 19%
– Disabled – 19%
– Families with children – 27%
I know this isn’t really news, but they are some number that I do expect to get worse and the news of the federal budget and Scott Walker have teamed up to fill this blogger with dread. Even with a Mayor that says we will work on housing, this will not be easy. Even in Madison where we still have more resources than most.
