The recent presidential election result confirmed the age-old adage – ‘It’s the economy stupid’. It is no surprise that the economy was top of voters’ minds, when nearly 34% of Americans are currently living paycheck to paycheck, with little savings. Americans are struggling with rising costs of food, energy, and transportation amidst stagnating wages. Rents, which have increased nearly 60% since the start of the pandemic, are a growing challenge for Americans and now present a housing crisis. Even families at the median income are unable to spend less than the recommended 30% of their incomes on housing. On a local level, soaring housing costs in Palo Alto and the Bay Area have made the region practically inhabitable for most people living here. My family moved to Palo Alto so I could attend the great schools in the district, but the increasing rent every year makes us reconsider this choice.
Youth and young adults are disproportionately affected by the housing crisis. A study from Young Americans Berkeley reports over 50% of young adults, among low-income populations, are likely to be evicted within two months. Recent graduates are entering the workforce with extremely low-paying, often minimum wage jobs. The additional burden of student debt makes it even more difficult for young people to afford housing. According to the Urban Institute, the average annual salary for a youth (18-24 years old) is $9,080, while for a young adult (24-30 years old), it is $10,960. The Urban Institute in 2025 (Gerken, Matthew et. al) provides data that over 1 million of them live in federally subsidized housing. Many are forced into homelessness.
Racial bias also plays a key role in the affordable housing crisis. According to a study on youth homelessness published in 2025 policy research by Chapin Hall, nearly 3.8 million young adults had little to no confidence in the ability to pay next month’s rent, with 1.3 million having no confidence in their future. Hispanic young adults were two times more likely to have little to no confidence compared to white young adults, with black youth being three times more likely according to another study titled “Centering Racial Equity in Youth Homelessness” by the same publication. Income inequality is prevalent in American society, and hits African Americans and Hispanics hard. The widespread disparity makes housing a challenge for the young people of color.
Affordable housing has become a societal issue and the government has a role to play. Due to the large scale impact, housing solutions can bring both sides of the political spectrum together. Section 8 housing voucher program, which started under President Ford, has been a consequential pillar of bipartisan unity between Republicans and Democrats. Today 5 million families benefit from the program. While the support for the program has risen and ebbed over the years, it has been a unique program of unity at the federal level. Other policies have not had similar success.
Liberals prefer programs such as low-income housing. Substantial resources have been put into such programs over the years, and the United States’ HUD built housing for the poor. While the programs had some success, they also had unintended consequences. According to Greater Washington, the HUD spent $26 billion for upkeep in its public housing endeavors. Despite government spending large amounts of money, communities in these programs deteriorated due to low wages and crime, according to the Nana Perry Brown article published in 2020. These programs failed to provide the expected transition from poverty to stability – failures that Republicans point to, for furthering such programs at the federal level.
At the state level, Liberals have used rent control since the 80s in cities such as San Francisco. According to the Brookings Institute, a conservative think tank, a report published in 2022, the policy was easily outmaneuvered by landlords who found loopholes to still raise rents. In addition, many conservatives point out that rent controls lead to poor maintenance as the landlords have little incentive to improve their holdings.
It is not as though solutions favored by conservatives performed better. Zoning de-regulation, favored by conservatives, leads to accelerated gentrification, and pricing out of low-income residents as shown in a study by Hwang and Lin (2016) in Urban Studies. Similarly, tax incentives to developers, another favored policy among conservatives, can lead to increased segregation as shown in an analysis of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program by Desmond and Wilmers (2019) in Social Problems, as developers favor higher income communities in search for quick profits.
Yet, I have hope for the future. Housing issues among youth are one unique issue that can find bi-partisan support. The state of California has a history of finding consensus among liberals and conservatives. Novel programs such as Expansion of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) passed with bipartisan support in 2019. In addition, programs such as Modular Housing and Innovation have found support both at city and state level within both conservative and liberal ranks. According to gov.ca.gov, California governor’s housing package, which aims to increase accountability at the local level and streamline housing production, has bipartisan support. Such bipartisan policies can be an example for nationwide changes to affordable housing policies. A roof above every head is only a few bipartisan agreements away.
Works Cited
Kelton, K. (2024). Living Paycheck to Paycheck Statistics. Bankrate.
Tan, D. (2021). Young Adults and the Affordable Housing Crisis. Young Americans.
Gerken, M. (2022). Youth and Young Adults in Federally Assisted Housing. In Federally Assisted Housing.pdf. Urban Institute.
Gonzalez, S. (2021). Centering Racial Equity in Youth Homelessness.
By, H., & Perry-Brown, N. (Eds.). (2020). How Public Housing Was Destined to Fail. Greater Greater Washington, 8.
Schuetz, J. (2022). What Does Economic Evidence Tell Us about the Effects of Rent Control? Brookings.
California, S. (2024). Governor Newsom Signs Bipartisan Housing Package and Launches Prop 1 Homekey + Initiative.” Governor of California.
Quigley, F. (2022). How Activists Are Making the Right to Housing a Reality. Housing Discrimination under the Fair Housing Act.” Hud.gov / U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). (n.d.).