The recent bursting of the ‘housing bubble’ and the resulting recession has created an increase of a two-pronged affliction: home foreclosures and job losses. Last year saw the collapse of the housing market as sub-prime loans from poor investments shook banks worldwide. In the shuffle, it wasn’t just people who had bought McMansions and couldn’t afford them who lost their houses. As the recession kicked in and people lost their jobs, even responsible families became unable to pay for the house they owned.
According to the US Department of Labor, since the beginning of the recession the number of unemployed people has increased by 7.6 million to a total of 15.1 million; the unemployment rate has doubled to 9.8% as of October. In turn the percentage of foreclosures in the second quarter of 2009, according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, was at a record high of 9.12% out of all mortgage loans.
People in this rough financial situation face the sobering possibilities of downgrading to substandard housing quality or, on the drastic end, to transitional shelters or tent cities. Last year when I served in AmeriCorps in
It is also important not just to look within our borders at the problem of substandard housing; it is a global issue worthy of addressing. According to Habitat for Humanity International, presently about a billion people—32% of the world’s urban population—live in urban slums. If no action is taken, according to the UN, that number will double in the next 30 years.
Through all of this, one can easily see that at this point in history the need for decent, affordable housing is particularly strong in
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