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Renters Paying Too Much as Recovery Passes Them By

For RentA worrisome percentage of renters are paying at least half of their income for housing and utilities, according to census data analyzed by Enterprise Community Partners. The non-profit company that helps finance affordable housing states that the number of such households has increased by 26 percent since 2007, rising to 11.25 million. This fact underscores the problem that despite the economic recovery of recent years, a large percentage of the country is not feeling the improvement.

The government considers it a financial burden if a family spends more than 30 percent of their income on housing and utilities. Angela Boyd, a vice-president at Enterprise Community Partners, explained the danger of such a rental burden.

“It means making really difficult trade-offs,” said Boyd. “There are daily financial dilemmas about making their rent or buying groceries.”

The situation underscores the unevenness of the recovery in which wages have not risen along with the cost of renting. In addition new construction has not kept up with the increasing demand from renters. The great recession forced many families out of their homes and into the rental market along with low-wage workers.

Over 30 percent of renters in California, Florida, New Jersey and New York spend over half their incomes on rent and utilities. In every other state in the country at least 20 percent of renters face the same burden, with the noted exceptions of Alaska, South Dakota and Wyoming.

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