Measuring America’s Affordability Problem: Comparing Alternative Measurements of Affordable Housing

Matthew M. Brooks

Housing Policy Debate, 2023, vol. 33, issue 6, 1293-1312

Abstract: Significant scholarly and policy debate has focused on the measurement of affordable housing, with emphasis on what is an appropriate threshold of affordability. However, this threshold is only one component of affordable housing measurement, with accurate and substantively appropriate measurements of income and households also being needed. In this study, I produce a series of estimates of affordable housing among low-income households in the United States under unique combinations of income, providers of income within the household, and thresholds of affordability. I find that these alternative measures yield a broad range of estimates ranging from a majority of households (69.8%) to a low of 20.2%. When examining how individual criteria affect estimates, I find that focusing on wage income alone and using residual income both drastically influence estimates. Ethnoracial disparities are also affected, with alternative measurements often muting—but never completely explaining—disparities between White and non-White households.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1080/10511482.2021.2010119

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