The following is the fourth post in a series covering aspects and angles on the DC Women’s Agenda’s recent white paper, Voices and Choices for D.C. Women and Girls: Recommendations for City Leaders 2007. The DC Women’s Agenda promotes the advancement, equality and well-being of women in D.C. This series of blogs is an extension of a very important proposal of recommendations to city leaders to truly make tangible changes in the D.C. metropolitan area.
One of the main tenants of the American Dream is the little house with the white picket fence.
But the reality is that for most families in the United States, this dream will probably never become reality. Nationwide, 15.6 million households are paying more than half their incomes for housing.
This is an astounding number, which hits close to home because of the housing crisis here in D.C., where thousands of people cannot afford the staggering prices of apartments.
Finding quality, affordable housing in D.C. is hard even for those who have good jobs. Finding the same type of housing for someone making minimum wage is virtually impossible. According to Housing and Urban Development, in fiscal year 2007, a worker earning $7.00 per hour in D.C. would have to work at least 141 hours per week to afford a two-bedroom apartment at the fair market rate.
This is outrageous, and a testament to how we desperately need to raise the minimum wage in this country. (That is another story, however.)
Obviously, there are some people in the district who can afford $1300 for a one bedroom apartment, but many cannot.
Currently, those who need public housing are in an even worse predicament. As the white paper points out, there are more than 52,000 households on the D.C. Housing Authority’s waiting list for Housing Choice Vouchers and/or public housing. Twenty thousand of those have registered with the housing authority that they are homeless and therefore eligible for a Homelessness Preference for the vouchers.
Most of the households in public housing are headed by women.
This is an issue that hits women especially hard. Many women have the challenge of providing for multiple children and themselves with no help.
How do they do it?
Most often, they hold down two or even three jobs. In addition, most of these jobs do not provide paid sick days or benefits.
The DCWA white paper makes quite a few recommendations, one of which is a request that the city implement an effort to develop a minimum of 19,000 affordable units, and 6,000 new units which are available to people who are at (or below) 30 percent of the area median income.
If the suggestions in the white paper are acted upon, it would mean that a large number of the District’s families, including many women-headed households, would be able to find housing that they can afford. This would allow them to spend their money in other ways, such as buying healthy food, finding adequate health care and providing their children with necessary school supplies.
Not to mention the peace of mind of knowing they are not spending half of their income on housing.
All across the city there are new luxury condos popping up where affordable, or reasonably affordable, apartments once stood. D.C. prides itself on being a very diverse “state;” however, if people continue to be pushed out because rent is so outrageous, there will only be one type of person who will be able to afford to live here.
What do we want our city to portray? A place that is only open to wealthy people?
Or a place that has culture, diversity, and welcomes all who want to live here.
For previous posts on the white paper, please visit:
DCWA: Calling all city leaders! (Intro post)
DCWA: Economic security is key to the city’s health
DCWA: Safety for women anything but small talk
Jessica Goshow is DC Employment Justice Center’s (DCEJC) legal and policy associate. Being that EJC and Wider Opportunities for Women are the co-chairs of the DCWA, she was involved in the coordination, writing, and reviewing of the white paper.
The DC Women’s Agenda, DC Employment Justice Center and Wider Opportunities for Women are all Grantee Partners of The Women’s Foundation.
