A Profile of Poverty Housing in Memphis and the United States as a whole

Fact #1:

Nearly 5.4 million U.S. households, comprising nearly 12.3 million individuals, receive no government housing subsidies yet face one or more of the "worst case" housing problems: cost burdens (paying more than 50% of monthly income for housing), overcrowding (the number of people in the house exceeds the number of rooms), and substandard conditions (severe physical deficiencies including lack of plumbing and electricity. In Memphis, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has identified 16,000 households with "worst-case needs.” More than 2,000 local households lack kitchen or plumbing facilities.

Fact # 2:

In Shelby County, an extremely low income household (earning $15,300, 30% of the Area Median Income of $51,000) can afford a monthly rent of no more than $383, while the Fair Market Rent for a two bedroom unit is $626. The average mortgage payment for a Memphis Habitat homeowner is $370 a month.

Fact #3:

In Shelby County, a worker earning minimum wage ($5.35 per hour) must work 94 hours per week in order to afford a two-bedroom apartment at the area's Fair Market rent.

Fact #4:

Sixty-nine percent of Habitat homeowners surveyed reported increased earnings after purchasing a Habitat home. Habitat homeowners perceived the greatest benefits of homeownership as the increased stability in their lives and the instilled positive outlook on the future.

Fact #5:

Of the 3.9 million very low-income households considered "working poor"—households with incomes below 50 percent of the area median income and with wage income exceeding full-time work at the federal minimum wage - over two-thirds pay 30% or more of their income for housing, with one quarter paying over half their incomes.

Fact #6:

Despite the growth in the number of minority homeowners since 1994, the gap between minority and white homeownership rates is holding at 25.8 percent. The homeownership rate of U.S.-born Hispanics exceeds that of blacks, but still lags 23 percentage points behind that of whites. According to an October 2003 article in the Memphis Commercial Appeal, African-American applicant’s home loans were turned down two and a half times more than Caucasian applicants in 2002.

Fact #7:

4.5 million children are affects by families whose rent exceeds fifty percent of their income. In Memphis, 80% of the families living in poverty are women-headed households with children.

Fact #8:

The leading cause of homelessness and a major reason for hunger is the high cost of U.S. housing. The average hourly wage needed to rent a two-bedroom apartment in the U.S. is $12.47 an hour. In 1999, there was no where in the U.S.--no city, state, or county—where the federal minimum wage was high enough to afford even a one-bedroom apartment, using thirty percent of income for housing and working 40 hours per week. In Memphis, it takes $15.64 an hour in a full-time job for a family with one adult and two children to be self-sufficient, according to the Living Wage 2002 study from the University of Memphis.

Habitat Homeowner Housing Facts

Most Habitat families spend more than fifty percent of their monthly income on housing, leaving very little for other expenditures. Habitat for Humanity offers homeowners no-interest, no-profits mortgages. Families make a down payment and invest 350 hours of sweat equity.

Many Habitat families are able to cut their housing expenses from more than $600 a month to less thank $400 a month as Habitat homeowners.

Habitat improves neighborhoods by building both houses and communities. Memphis police officer Charles Hill commented, “Homeownership has made a significant difference in the crime rate of the Winchester Park neighborhood,” where Habitat has partnered with 86 families.