Pity the government official coping with budget crises and all the demands on shrinking resources. Their decisions can have ripple effects with unintended consequences. For instance, a decision to reduce benefits when individuals are sharing housing. Of course, from one perspective the beneficiary may not need as much money as when they weren’t sharing housing. [...]
Posts under ‘Social Policy’
Doubling up is Bad?
The Center for American Progress just published an article, The New Housing Normal for Low-Income Families, that cogently makes the case for why it’s not okay for families to “double up.” The article has also been posted here. Read it for the typical social policy response to sharing housing. According to the author the problems [...]
Uh-oh, Severe Housing Burden
I’ve learned a new phrase, “severe housing burden,” an academic term for those who spend more than half their income on housing. Moderate housing burden is between 30% to 50% of income. Spending 30% or less for housing is considered unburdened or reasonable. According the State of the Nation’s Housing 2010 report published by the [...]
Idea: Pay no taxes
Well actually, I don’t mean no taxes ever. But I have been thinking about a change in our tax code. What if the tax code were modified so that those who rent a room in their own residences are not subject to tax on that income? It would be an incentive to cash-strapped homeowners to [...]
Collaborative Ownership – Not Consuming
Is the electronic revolution making ownership a thing of the past? This is an argument of Simon Smith in his most interesting article on “transumers” . He argues that renting, rather than owning, is a trend that is growing, made possible because of the Internet. Zip cars and Netflix are excellent examples. I’ve noticed this [...]