Check out this recent New York Times article around Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson’s proposals to drastically raise rents in federally subsidized housing. Dr. Carson’s premise is that subsidized housing just promotes families staying in that housing for a lifetime and provides some sort of disincentive for work. I think analysis will show that it is a much more complicated situation than solely that.
In Wake County, we’ve seen wages rise 15 percent since 2005 while rental costs have risen 35 percent. This is the result of the simple economic equation of demand for housing greatly exceeding supply.
As an empowerment ministry, Habitat Wake seeks to walk alongside families seeking to invest the hard work necessary to improve their living and financial situations. We’ll always support programs that do the same, while seeking to understand the complexities that exist and not make the easy and convenient assumption that people in subsidized housing are just desiring to shirk responsibility and “live off the government.”
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