Representative Barney Frank recounted that “ said originally that the poorest of the poor who get housing through various public programs shouldn’t be expected to pay more than 25 percent of their income for housing, precisely because they have so little.” Congress raised the cap to 30 percent in 1981. The Brooke Amendment, which was passed in 1969 as a response to rent increases and complaints about services in public housing, capped public housing rent at 25 percent of a resident’s income. He and then-Senator Walter Mondale coauthored the 1968 Fair Housing Act, which prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of race. The 30-percent rule for measuring affordability can be traced back to an amendment passed in 1969 by Senator Edward Brooke, the country's first popularly elected African American senator and a vocal advocate of affordable housing. But if your income is $20,000 a year, it will be hard to make ends meet if you’re paying 30 percent of your income on rent.”Īs living costs increase, does the 30 percent rule accurately measure rental affordability? Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac, is quoted in the article as saying, “If your income is $500,000 a year, you can pay 40 percent and still have money left. A recent Business Week article, however, argues that the 30-percent rule is “nearly useless.” The authors suggest that calculating housing cost burden using only income ratios oversimplifies the issue of housing affordability. The 30-percent rule - that a household should spend no more than 30 percent of its income on housing costs - has long been accepted in academic circles and is often included in blogs and websites on family budgeting. HUD defines cost-burdened families as those “who pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing” and “may have difficulty affording necessities such as food, clothing, transportation, and medical care.” Severe rent burden is defined as paying more than 50 percent of one’s income on rent. This interactive map shows that people living along the east and west coasts and in urban areas bear the greatest cost burdens. In July 2014, the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University released a study finding that nearly half of all renter households in the United States were cost burdened in 2012. How much of your income should you set aside for rent? With the cost of housing on the rise, researchers are reexamining the 30-percent rule of thumb for measuring rental burden. In cities like New York, households often face considerable rental burdens and high costs of living. The most remarkable things follow.Rental Burdens: Rethinking Affordability Measures I have learned, as a rule of thumb, never to ask whether you can do something. It’s a good rule of thumb, it seems to me: if you’re not allowed to see where something comes from, don’t put it in your mouth. Don’t take in more than you’re willing to burn off. Rule of thumb: Eat for what you’re going to be doing, and not for what you have done. If you’re at a point where you’re complaining about the other guy being mean and unfair and uncivil, that’s probably a sign that you’re losing. Many profest Christians are like to foolish builders, who build by guess, and by rule of thumb. when the thumb was used to measure an inch. However, this idiomatic expression is really derived from an old architectural practice. Origin – It is often thought that this idiom derives from the ancient common law which allowed a man to beat his wife with a stick that was no wider than a thumb. In Context – The rule of thumb at the office is that whoever finishes the coffee has to make the next pot. Meaning – the general rule or guideline, a measurement or method based on experience rather than a scientific calculation
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