Cuts in federal funds have created a shortage of rental units and subsidies The voice, and complaints, of rural voters will be a constant refrain in this week?s election post-mortems. But as pundits discuss the economic challenges of these areas, it?s important an under-recognized pocketbook issue gets more attention: affordable housing and development assistance. According to a draft report by the National Rural Housing Coalition on the issue rural renting housing, huge cuts in government funding for housing support in these communities has created a serious problem.
?In smaller, poorer areas, it?s very difficult to get the private sector to come in and pay for housing,? says Bob Rapoza, the group?s executive secretary. ?The federal programs that have been lifelines for these areas have really been cut back. Development funding for these areas has been cut by 75 percent over the last 40 years.? Statistics paint a grim picture of rural poverty, and insufficient efforts to improve housing affordability, especially in tribal lands and for seasonal farmworkers. The rural poverty rate, 17.7 percent, is roughly three percent higher than urban areas, with nearly one in seven households earning less than $15,000 per year. That means housing costs have an outsized impact on budgets; about 50 percent of poor rural Americans have housing expenses that exceed half of their incomes.
Solutions to these issues can be especially challenging, since the issue often doesn?t get exten...