An interesting new report shows that one way to fight hunger among children is to make sure their families have affordable housing. These findings suggest that recent cutbacks in affordable housing funding in DC, coupled with the severe recession, have contributed to an increase in hunger among DC families.
The report, by Children’s Health Watch and Medical Legal Partnership, showed that children in subsidized housing are less likely to go hungry and less likely to be seriously underweight than children in families on a housing waiting list. How does affordable housing play such a critical role? For many low-income families, housing costs eat up the majority of their limited budgets. This is especially true in high-cost cities such as DC, where more than half of low-income households spend more than 50 percent of their income on housing.
In DC where 1 in 10 households are on the waiting list for affordable housing, it’s no coincidence that 1 in 8 households reported having trouble putting food on the table in 2008. Hunger in DC has likely become worse since then, as the recession pushed unemployment to an all-time high in 2009.
When families receive a housing subsidy however, they typically pay 30 percent of their income for housing. The housing assistance frees up some of a family’s limited budget, making it easier to afford food and other necessities.
The report raises new concerns about recent cuts in funding for housing in DC. The District’s investment in affordable housing grew substantially from 2000-2008, supporting thousands of new affordable homes. However, since 2008 local funding for affordable housing has fallen nearly in half, and only a small number of affordable units will be built this year. This means little reductions to DC’s affordable housing wait list and a greater chance that more DC families could go hungry.
