For the past half-century or more, homeownership has formed the cornerstone of the American Dream. But ever since the economic crisis, America has been in the throes of a long-running Great Reset as it shifts gradually from homeownership toward renting. The number of “renter households” increased by more than half a million in 2013 according … Continue reading America’s Looming Rental Crisis – CityLab
By CHRISTOPHER BLATTMAN A CHINESE millionaire tried to give $300 (and lunch) to homeless men and women in New York last week. This didn’t sit well with the nonprofit New York City Rescue Mission. The Rescue Mission offered to help with lunch, but wouldn’t cooperate in handing out cash. So midway through a meal of sesame-crusted … Continue reading CHRISTOPHER BLATTMAN: Let Them Eat Cash – NYTimes
Patrice is, in many ways, typical. A low-income woman, she’s struggling to find affordable housing in Milwaukee. The 24-year-old single mother of three shares a two-bedroom apartment with her mother, her three young children and her three siblings. It’s on the same block as abandoned buildings and memorials for victims of shootings. The back door … Continue reading Evictions are as bad for black women as prison is for black men | The Washington Post
Over the past three decades, Congress has conducted a major experiment in anti-poverty policy. Legislators have restructured benefits and tax breaks intended for the poor so that they penalize unmarried, unemployed parents — the modern day version of the “undeserving poor.” At the same time, working parents, the aged and the disabled are getting larger … Continue reading Thomas Byrne @Edsall: Cutting the #Poor Out of #Welfare – NYTimes
June 11, 2014 Want an over-the-top summer place of your very own? These luxury homes are in some of the hottest beach destinations in the U.S. — and the deals on these places can’t be beat. More The numbers seem to back it up. Americans’ average wealth tops $301,000 per adult, enough to rank us … Continue reading CNN Money: Middle class Americans: Not so wealthy by global standards
By Emily Badger The decision to move is an intensely personal and revealing one. We move homes because we lost a job or found a new one, because a new child was born or an older one finally left for college. We move because we have to, following a foreclosure, or because we can afford … Continue reading @Wonkblog: What our reasons for moving say about the state of the economy
