World Habitat Day Habitat for Humanity

World Habitat Day

September 16th, 2009 · No Comments

We are all aware that the South Florida housing market is not what it used to be. Prices have dropped, foreclosures are on the rise, and mortgages are not easy to structure. I suggest that we adjust our perspective on these matters and focus on a housing issue that’s less sexy then the real estate bubble. There’s a housing and poverty issue that has existed before investors started short selling their property. Many individuals and families are living on the streets and wish they could be living in their home while the banks take years to foreclose. This post is here to shine some light on housing and poverty. I was asked by Habitat for Humanity to help spread the word about World Habitat Day on October 5, 2009.

World Habitat Day

Here are some facts:

U.S. Housing Facts

- About 95 million people, one third of the nation, have housing problems including a high-cost burden, overcrowding, poor quality shelter and homelessness. (National Low Income Housing Coalition: 2004)
- One in three American households spend more than 30 percent of income on housing, and one in seven spends more than 50 percent. (Joint Center for Housing Studies: 2006)
- The number of low-income families that lack safe and affordable housing is related to the number of children that suffer from asthma, viral infections, anemia, stunted growth and other health problems. About 21,000 children have stunted growth attributable to the lack of stable housing; 10,000 children between the ages of 4 and 9 are hospitalized for asthma attacks each year because of cockroach infestation at home; and more than 180 children die each year in house fires attributable to faulty electrical heating and electrical equipment. (Sandel, et al: 1999)

Global poverty facts

- By the year 2030, an additional 3 billion people, about 40 percent of the world’s population, will need access to housing. This translates into a demand for 96,150 new affordable units every day and 4,000 every hour. (UN-HABITAT: 2005)
- One out of every three city dwellers – nearly a billion people – lives in a slum. (Slum indicators include: lack of water, lack of sanitation, overcrowding, non-durable structures and insecure tenure.) (UN-HABITAT: 2006)
- UN-Habitat has reported that because of poor living conditions, women living in slums are more likely to contract HIV/AIDS than their rural counterparts, and children in slums are more likely to die from water-borne and respiratory illness. (UN-HABITAT: 2006)
- Housing formation generates non-housing related expenditures that help drive the economy. (Kissick, et al: 2006)
- Investing in housing expands the local tax base. (Kissick, et al: 2006)