Minnesota renters increasingly feeling the pinch to keep roofs over their heads
MINNEAPOLIS — More Americans than ever are struggling to keep a roof over their head, according to a new Harvard University study looking at the rental market in America.
When it comes to renting in America, the demand is high but the supply of places to live isn't great.
"Despite the number of cranes that you see, when you drive around, we still haven't kept up with the amount of construction and building that is necessary," Andrew Babula, with the University of St. Thomas Shenehon Center for Real Estate, said.
The Harvard study also found that more than 22 million Americans spend at least 30% of their income on rent. Half of those people are spending more than half of what they make, and that has ripple effects on the economy.
"That affects their jobs, that affects their productivity at their jobs. It affects children when they're at school, trying to learn and get an education. So all of that has greater impacts on the economy overall. So it definitely is something that needs to needs to be fixed," Babula said.
Just last year, Minnesota passed $1 billion in funding to address some of these issues. Advocates say that money will help, but more can be done.
"We still, despite these efforts, have a significant gap between the number of public resources that are available and the need that we see in our communities," Beacon Interfaith CEO Chris LaTondresse said.
It's estimated that Minnesota would need about 225,000 vouchers from the state or federal sources in order to close the gap.