This article originally appeared in the September-October 2007 issue of the Children's Advocate, published by Action Alliance for Children.

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"Devastating to families"

California’s housing crisis makes it hard to keep children safe

By Kevin Hickey

It’s really stressful to be at home,” says Judith Martinez, who lives in a studio apartment with her husband, father, and five children. “My children fight because they don’t have their own space to sleep or change their clothes.” And her rent will soon double. “We can’t afford the rent increase or move into a larger apartment,” she says. “I can’t work because I need to take care of the children, but my husband and father feel a lot of pressure because we have so little money.”

“Families with children are bearing the brunt of the housing crisis,” says Sara Shortt, of San Francisco’s Housing Rights Committee. Because of California’s severe lack of affordable housing (see The housing crisis in numbers), many thousands of families endure overcrowding, instability, poor living conditions, and homelessness.

Fewer choices, more problems

“Families tend to double up, which causes problems for children,” says Nancy Berlin, director of the California Partnership in L.A. Alma Jimenez lives with her husband and son in one small room in an apartment they share with other families. “Kids get in fights with kids in other rooms,” she says. Jimenez also worries about maturing young women in these conditions: “I don’t think it’s safe.”

“Families face limited choices,” says Shortt. “Many families are (forced to live in) areas where schools and services might not be as good and violent crime could be problem.”

Children’s development suffers

“The housing crisis has been devastating to the poorest families”, says Jenny Friedenbach, an organizer for San Francisco’s Coalition on Homelessness. “It negatively impacts children. New babies are not meeting developmental milestones because they have no room to crawl or walk.”

“My youngest child wakes up in the night crying. Other kids don’t sleep well, so it’s hard for them to pay attention in school,” says Martinez.

“Our small space prevents studying and concentrating on school work,” says Silvia Alvizar, who lives in a studio apartment with her husband and two children. She says her daughter nearly flunked out of school in her senior year because of depression related to housing problems.

Unhealthy conditions

Children’s health also suffers in poor housing. Martinez and her children endure roaches and bedbugs, which have covered her son with bites.

“Our apartment is so small and my child has asthma,” says Maria Cortez, who lives with her husband and four children in two rooms. “The doctor said we had to move, so we asked our landlord for a bigger apartment.” Instead, they got evicted and had to move to a more expensive place. “We live very, very close to the edge,” she says. “Every month is a struggle.”

“We have termite problems and there’s gun violence in our apartment complex,” says Dawn Love, a public housing resident. She doesn’t let her daughter play outside for fear of her safety. “All my income goes towards rent, but I still can’t come home and feel peace and quiet. It’s scary.”

Rural housing crisis

“High housing costs are being exported to rural communities,” says Rob Wiener, executive director of the California Coalition for Rural Housing. “Farmworkers are getting priced out by increasing housing costs and workers who commute to (cities) for work. And San Joaquin Valley has one of the highest rates of child poverty in the country. Many children live in poor housing.”

Central Valley resident Luz Guerrero, with her husband and four children, had to move from the house where they had lived for five years when it was sold. As a farmworker, Guerrerro’s husband spends half his income on housing. The house they can afford “has rats, mold, and the yard is not safe for my children,” says Guerrero. “And our landlords never repair things.”

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The housing crisis in numbers

• Before 1980, the federal government built at least 75,000 new subsidized housing units a year. Now it’s building about 10,000 a year.

• The federal government has spent $0 on new public housing since 1996.

• The number of Section 8 vouchers has been cut by almost 150,000 since January 2004. Under President Bush’s proposed budget for 2008, Section 8 funding would be cut by 5%.

• Since 1975 California’s median home prices have soared more than 1,000% to a historic high of $450,000.

• In order to afford a typical two-bedroom apartment in California, renters need to earn $22.86/hour. Yet California’s minimum wage is only $6.75/hour.

• California is not building enough new housing. If current trends continue, by 2020 California will have built less than 60% of needed housing, with little for low-income families.

• 1.7 million families in California are living in overcrowded conditions.

• In Los Angeles, more than 100,000 people are living in garages.

Sources: Western Regional Advocacy Project, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Housing California, National Low-Income Housing Coalition, PolicyLink, California Association of Realtors

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Taking action on housing

Around the state

• California Partnership (213-385-8010, www.california-partnership.org), local chapters work on housing as well as other economic justice issues.

In San Francisco

• Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth (415-239-0161, www.colemanadvocates.org) is pushing the city to double its affordable-housing goal from 1550 to 3100 units. Each of the last two years, advocates have won $10 million for affordable housing, about 400 units for low-income families.

• Housing First for Families, a project of the Coalition on Homelessness (415-346-3740, www.cohsf.org), is organizing homeless families to push for policies that provide housing for families and immigrants.

In Los Angeles

• The Coalition for Economic Survival (213-252-4411, www.cesinaction.org), works on a wide range of housing issues. Recently CES and other groups have won expansion of rent control protections.

• Housing L.A. (213-480-1249, www.scanph.org/node/38), a project of the Southern California Association of Nonprofit Housing, works to increase the supply of affordable housing.

In rural areas

• The California Rural Housing Coalition (916-443-4448, www.calruralhousing.org) does advocacy, organizing, and research to promote affordable housing in rural areas.

Statewide

• Housing California (916-447-0503, www.housingca.org), advocates for affordable housing statewide.

Nationally

• The National Low-Income Housing Coalition (202-662-1530, www.nlihc.org) is currently working to pass a bill that will improve Section 8 and add 20,000 new Section 8 vouchers in the next five years.

• ACORN (866-67-ACORN, www.acorn.org), a national community organization, provides advice and advocacy for homeowners at risk of mortgage foreclosure.

• The Housing Rights Committee in San Francisco (415-703-8644, www.hrcsf.org) is part of a national coalition fighting federal cuts in public housing.

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Extra resources from the Children’s Advocate bulletin (updated 6-08)

• Affordable By Choice: Trends in California Inclusionary Housing Programs, from the California Coalition for Rural Housing, finds that only one-third of California cities and counties require developers to make some market-rate homes "affordable." Includes policy recommendations.

• 2007 Advocates' Guide to Housing and Community Development Policy, from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, provides background and analysis on issues related to affordable housing and ways that advocates can push for change.

• Housing Vouchers Are Critical for Ending Family Homelessness, from the National Alliance to End Homelessness, finds that vouchers for affordable rental housing help prevent families from becoming homeless and also help homeless families find housing.

• Locked Out 2008, from the California Budget Project, looks at issues related to the housing boom and bust in California. Includes county and state data.

• The Impact of the Mortgage Crisis on Children, from First Focus, finds that the mortgage crisis will impact an estimated two million children--who are more likely to become homeless, do worse in school, have behavior problems, and experience food insecurity as a result.

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