A Right to Housing: Foundation for a New Social Agenda

by Rachel G. Bratt (Editor), Michael E. Stone (Editor), Chester Hartman (Editor)

In the 1949 Housing Act, Congress declared a decent home and a suitable living environment for every American family our national housing goal. Today, little more than half a century later, upwards of 100 million people in the United States live in housing that is physically inadequate, unsafe, overcrowded, or unaffordable.
The contributors to "A Right to Housing "consider the key issues related to America's housing crisis, including income inequality and insecurity, segregation and discrimination, the rights of the elderly, as well as legislative and judicial responses to homelessness. The book offers a detailed examination of how access to adequate housing is directly related to economic security.
With essays by leading activists and scholars, this book presents a powerful and compelling analysis of the persistent inability of the U.S. to meet many of its citizens' housing needs, and a comprehensive proposal for progressive change.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Social Science

448 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Wealhtheow · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of essays on public housing and housing subsidies or taxes in the US. My status updates have some of the most inspiring quotes and most scandalous numbers. Basically, this book just reaffirmed everything I already thought or supposed about the right to housing: there is no evidence that guaranteed shelter decreases people's willingness to work, but instead that guaranteed housing and stability keep families together, increase people's education and career initiatives. Initially, federal subsidies for housing were aimed at the lower middle class, to ensure they had acceptable housing. Since the 1950s, however, federal housing initiatives have become aimed at the very poor& homeless, so political will to keep up the budget has dwindled. Meanwhile, tax incentives for owning homes have gone up, so that homeowners who own the most homes, worth the most amount of money, are getting vastly more from the federal government than anyone else (especially compared to the very poorest among us). Tax incentives for home ownership don't actually help the rich, but a lack of budget for subsidized housing hurts the poor and middle class and contributes to the growing income&wealth gap. As of 2000, more than a third of America paid so much to cover their shelter needs that they didn't have enough to cover food and other survival needs. This pervasive lack of housing affordability is terrible for people on both an individual and societal level, and can only be fixed by an increase in the housing budget and a decrease in segregation&discrimination against the poor and people of color.

I found this collection to be a rousing call to action, but it is also dense with facts, figures and citations, and generally written in a very academic style. It's not dry--the writers clearly have a lot of will and passion--but it is hard to read much in one sitting.

[James Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is sorely needed in a time of acute homelessness and displacement. It is nice just to hear someone say "We all have the right to housing" and back it up with hardcore facts, figures and arguments. However, I wish the book would have been written in a little more popular style--so intelligent folks without college degrees could more easily access the tons of insight here. However, Larry Lamar Yates history of the housing movement is a fantastic, accessible article that should be used by every housing organizer

[Mills College Library]

363.50973 R5714 2006