Table of Contents

Executive Summary

Chapter 1: Introduction

Terms and Sources
Building the Report

Chapter 2: Findings

Major Findings

Finding 1: Despite robust economic growth between 1993 and 1995, the number of very-low-income renters with worst case housing needs remained at an all-time high -- 5.3 million

Finding 2: The stock of rental housing affordable to the lowest income families is shrinking and Congress has eliminated funding for new rental assistance since 1995

Finding 3: The fastest growth in worst case needs in the 1990s was among working families

Finding 4: One of every three households with worst case needs now lives in the suburbs

Supplementary Findings

Finding 5: The most serious housing needs are concentrated among households with the lowest incomes

Finding 6: Of the 12.5 million persons in households with worst case needs, almost 1.5 million are elderly and 4.5 million are children. The number of adults with disabilities in households with worst case needs is estimated between 1.1 and 1.4 million

Finding 7: Worst case needs continue to shift to the West

Chapter 3: Policy Implications

Appendix A: Data on Housing Problems

Appendix B: Glossary

Appendix C: Procedures Used To Estimate Housing Needs From American Housing Survey Data

Exhibits

Exhibit 1:	Income Categories Used in Housing Programs
Exhibit 2:	Extremely Low, Very Low, and Low Income: Examples of Income Limits for Four-Person Households
Exhibit 3:	Housing Assistance and Affordable Housing Programs
Exhibit 4:	Household-Level Data From HUD Programs
Exhibit 5:	Changes to Assisted Housing Policy: Recent and Proposed
Exhibit 6:	Worst Case Needs Dropped in the Mid-1980s, but Not in the 1993­1995 Recovery
Exhibit 7:	Annual Increase in Number of Households With Public and Assisted Housing, 1978­1996
Exhibit 8:	Loss of Private Market Units Affordable for Very-Low-Income Renters Accelerated Between 1993 and 1995
Exhibit 9:	Mismatches Between Extremely-Low-Income Renters and Rental Units They Can Afford Continue to Worsen
Exhibit 10:	Between 1991 and 1995, Growth in Worst Case Needs Was Highest Among Working Families and Individuals
Exhibit 11:	Substantial Numbers of Very-Low-Income Families With Children Are Working
Exhibit 12:	Over 1.6 Million Unassisted Working Renters With Worst Case Needs Have Extremely Low Incomes
Exhibit 13:	Many Assisted Families Have Earnings as Their Primary Source of Income
Exhibit 14:	In the Early 1990s, Worst Case Needs Grew Quickly in the Suburbs
Exhibit 15:	Mismatches Between Extremely-Low-Income Renters and Available Rental Units They Can Afford are Worst in the Suburbs
Exhibit 16:	Over Two-Thirds of Renters With Priority Problems Have Income Below 30 Percent of Median
Exhibit 17:	Renters With Income Below 30 Percent of Median Are the Only Groups Likely To Have Severe Housing Problems
Exhibit 18:	Housing Assistance Is Well Targeted to the Income Groups With Priority Problems
Exhibit 19:	History of the Federal Preference System
Exhibit 20:	Some Public Housing Projects Exclude the Poor
Exhibit 21:	The HOME Program Serves Extremely-Low-Income Households at Affordable Rents, Especially When Combined With Tenant-Based Rental Assistance
Exhibit 22:	Designated Housing
Exhibit 23:	Worst Case Needs by Household Type, 1995
Exhibit 24:	Priority Problems Concentrate in the Poorest Households of Each Family Type
Exhibit 25:	Western Renters Are Underserved Relative to Needs
Exhibit 26:	Mismatches Between Extremely-Low-Income Renters and Available Rental Units They Can Afford are Worst in the West