How affordable housing benefits:
Community
Housing affordability promotes diversity and helps build and maintain communities.
- The stability of housing that’s affordable influences a sense of loyalty among residents in their communities, supports diverse populations, and creates safer environments.
- Housing options that are accessible to diverse income levels can generate various types of revenue that can be used to improve the infrastructure, look, and overall well-being of a neighborhood.
- Housing options for people with diverse income levels prevents and reduces housing instability.
The Economy
Housing options for people with varied income levels can build healthier local economies by creating financial opportunities for neighborhoods.
- When more people can afford where they live, there are more opportunities to earn, spend, and save money, which supports local businesses by providing customers, as well as workers.
- When most people can’t afford where they live, it decreases individual earnings and can cost taxpayers trillions of dollars in social services, while investing in more housing affordability creates economic growth.
Children
Living without housing cost burden improves learning and physical development for children, ultimately increasing the potential for those who grow up in these environments.
- The stability that housing affordability provides increases the prospects of children who live in that housing.
- When parents’ finances aren’t burdened by housing costs, children live healthier lives, which creates better outcomes for adulthood.
Employment
Housing that people with diverse incomes can afford creates more opportunities for employment and supports workers.
- The construction and maintenance of housing developments creates jobs for that particular project. Since living in areas with more housing affordability can support local businesses, it also creates the need for employees.
- Since many workers might struggle to afford various necessities, being able to live close to places of employment and useful resources without housing cost burden supports essential workers, which is beneficial for communities.
Health
The absence of housing cost burden improves people’s physical and mental health.
- When people can afford where they live, they have more access to healthcare and restaurants and grocery stores that sell healthier food.
- More housing affordability can ensure that low-income residents would be less exposed to hazardous living conditions and face less stress from not being able to afford rent.