Opening Doors, October
2005, Issue 27
By Ann OHara, Emily Cooper, and Jonathan Buttrick
Introduction
In 2004, the national
average rent for a modest one-bedroom housing unit climbed to a record high of
$676 more than the entire monthly income of people with disabilities who rely
on the federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program to pay for housing
and other basic needs. Between 2002 and 2004, the cost of rental housing rose
from 105.5 percent to 109.6 percent of monthly SSI payments pricing people
with disabilities completely out of the rental housing market.
These are two of the important findings included
in Priced Out in 2004 a new study of the extreme housing affordability
problems of people with disabilities with the lowest incomes. Priced Out in
2004 is being published by the Technical Assistance Collaborative, Inc.
(TAC) and the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) Housing Task
Force to focus public attention on the serious housing crisis that affects the
lowest-income adults with disabilities those who qualify for federal SSI
payments.
SSI is the federal income maintenance program
that provides a base of support for people with significant and long-term
disabilities who have virtually no assets. Some states provide an additional
SSI supplement for people with specific types of disabilities and/or people
with disabilities residing in specific housing arrangements such as congregate
living or structured residential settings.
Since Priced Out in 1998 was
published six years ago, the housing affordability gap between SSI income and
modest rents has grown at an astonishing rate. In 1998, it was impossible to
imagine that rents for one-bedroom and studio units would increase 59 percent
in a mere six years to a level higher than the entire monthly income of a
person receiving SSI.
This issue of Opening Doors focuses
on the key findings published in Priced Out in 2004, a biennial
comparison of the amount of monthly SSI income received by people with disabilities
living independently with modest rental housing costs represented by the Fair Market
Rents (FMRs) published annually by the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Priced Out in 2004 is
also a call for an immediate, significant, and long overdue government response
to this housing crisis.
Priced Out in 2004 may be
downloaded in its entirety at www.tacinc.org. A complimentary copy may be
ordered from TAC using the order form on page 11, or by emailing a request to
publications@tacinc.org.
Major Findings
in Priced Out in 2004
The major findings from the Priced
Out in 2004 study include the following:
In 2004, as a national average, a person receiving SSI
needed to pay 109.6 percent of their entire monthly income in order to rent a
modest one-bedroom unit. From 2002 to 2004, the housing affordability gap for
people with disabilities continued to grow alarmingly while federal housing
officials repeatedly proposed re-directing essential rent subsidy funds to
higher-income households.
During the six years since Priced Out in 1998 was
published the amount of monthly SSI income needed to rent a modest one-bedroom
unit has risen an astonishing 59 percent from 69 percent of SSI in 1998 to 109.6
percent of SSI in 2004.
People with disabilities receiving SSI are also priced out
of smaller studio/efficiency rental units. In 2004, the national average cost
of these units rose to 96.1 percent of monthly SSI, an increase of 8 percent
from 2002.
People with disabilities who rely on SSI payments continue to
be among the lowest-income citizens in the
Over the past six years, since the publication of Priced
Out in 1998, the national average income of a one-person household
receiving SSI disability payments dropped 25 percent relative to median income
from 24.4 percent of median income in 1998 to 18.4 percent in 2004.
Percent of
SSI Benefits Needed to Rent a One-Bedroom Housing Unit
A state-by-state analysis of SSI benefits compared to one-bedroom
housing costs provides compelling evidence that extreme housing affordability
problems for people with disabilities exist in all 50 states even when an SSI
supplement is provided. Table 1 below indicates that in 2004, the average rent for a one-bedroom
unit was more than SSI income in 20 states and the
TABLE 1:
PERCENT OF
SSI NEEDED TO RENT A ONE-BEDROOM HOUSING UNIT
|
State |
% of SSI |
|
|
78.2% |
|
|
76.1% |
|
|
111.7% |
|
|
74.8% |
|
|
114.4% |
|
|
109.0% |
|
|
102.5% |
|
|
114.4% |
|
|
185.3% |
|
|
119.5% |
|
|
107.8% |
|
|
156.2% |
|
|
77.4% |
|
|
123.4% |
|
|
88.7% |
|
|
78.5% |
|
|
83.9% |
|
|
75.5% |
|
|
86.0% |
|
|
93.2% |
|
|
145.2% |
|
|
134.9% |
|
|
101.6% |
|
|
99.1% |
|
|
76.8% |
|
|
89.2% |
|
|
76.2% |
|
|
80.0% |
|
|
131.2% |
|
|
119.0% |
|
|
151.4% |
|
|
87.2% |
|
|
137.6% |
|
|
97.0% |
|
|
71.5% |
|
|
87.8% |
|
|
71.5% |
|
|
99.2% |
|
|
98.4% |
|
|
117.5% |
|
|
89.9% |
|
|
71.3% |
|
|
84.9% |
|
|
102.7% |
|
|
98.4% |
|
|
92.2% |
|
|
128.4% |
|
|
103.9% |
|
|
71.1% |
|
|
80.4% |
|
|
75.1% |
|
NATIONAL |
109.6% |
*States
above 100% are listed in bold
In 2004, rents for studio/efficiency units
in every state were also well above what was affordable to people receiving
SSI. Table 2 below shows that a total of 13 states had
average rents for studio/efficiency units that exceeded 100 percent of monthly
SSI income, led again by the
TABLE 2:
PERCENT OF
SSI NEEDED TO RENT AN EFFICIENCY HOUSING UNIT
|
State |
% of SSI |
|
|
70.0% |
|
|
65.1% |
|
|
95.9% |
|
|
67.4% |
|
|
97.7% |
|
|
95.7% |
|
|
84.6% |
|
|
106.9% |
|
|
162.2% |
|
|
106.6% |
|
|
99.3% |
|
|
134.0% |
|
|
68.7% |
|
|
106.7% |
|
|
78.0% |
|
|
68.6% |
|
|
74.3% |
|
|
66.3% |
|
|
78.4% |
|
|
80.0% |
|
|
126.8% |
|
|
124.0% |
|
|
92.0% |
|
|
85.1% |
|
|
68.6% |
|
|
79.1% |
|
|
66.0% |
|
|
71.9% |
|
|
112.4% |
|
|
100.7% |
|
|
135.4% |
|
|
75.9% |
|
|
118.3% |
|
|
86.2% |
|
|
61.7% |
|
|
76.4% |
|
|
65.3% |
|
|
85.0% |
|
|
86.2% |
|
|
107.5% |
|
|
81.4% |
|
|
64.2% |
|
|
76.4% |
|
|
92.6% |
|
|
88.8% |
|
|
80.4% |
|
|
116.3% |
|
|
91.0% |