FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 30, 2003	Contact: Michele Anapol (202) 466-2121 x226 manapol@nhc.org

IMMIGRANT WORKING FAMILIES NEARLY 70 PERCENT MORE LIKELY THAN
NATIVE-BORN COUNTERPARTS TO SPEND OVER HALF THEIR INCOME ON HOUSING

New Study Reveals Immigrant Working Families Also 6 Times More Likely to Live in Crowded Conditions – The Largest Minority, Hispanics, Comprise Almost 60 Percent of Immigrant Working Families that Lack Decent, Affordable Housing

Washington, DC – Immigrant working families are nearly 70 percent more likely than native-born Americans to spend over half their income on housing, according to a compelling new study developed by the National Housing Conference’s (NHC) research affiliate the Center for Housing Policy entitled America’s Newest Working Families: Cost, Crowding and Conditions for Immigrants. The study also found that immigrant working families are 6 times more likely to live in crowded conditions using the standard of more than one person per room, per residence. Findings for Hispanics – the nation’s largest minority – reveal that they comprise almost 60 percent of immigrant working families with critical housing needs, that is, they spend more than half their income on housing, and, or live in severely dilapidated conditions. Additionally, the study found that Asian immigrant working families account for another 20 percent of those with critical housing needs, while others include families from Europe and Canada, and also from Africa and the Middle East. Working families are defined as low- to moderate-income families that work the equivalent of a full-time job and earn between the full-time minimum wage of $10,712 and up to 120 percent of the median income in their area.

“As the fastest growing segment of America’s workforce, immigrants are of increasing economic importance to their communities, but affordable housing concerns and crowding data revealed in this study make it clear that today’s immigrants are facing more than the traditional challenges of their predecessors,” said NHC Chairman G. Allan Kingston. “Immigrant working families are significantly more likely than their native-born counterparts to spend over half their income on housing, while immigrants are also more likely to live in crowded conditions.”

With critical housing needs, most of the disparity between immigrant working families and those that are native-born is due to the nearly 70 percent difference in the proportion of immigrant working families paying at least half their income for housing, or 14 versus 8 percent. Immigrant working families are only slightly more likely than native-born working families to live in severely inadequate housing.

In terms of crowding, immigrant working families are more crowded not just in percentages, 15 percent versus 2 percent of native-born, but also in numbers at 1 million compared to 840,000. Almost 1 in 5 immigrant working families who rent are crowded, while just over 1 in 10 immigrant families who own are crowded – rates considerably higher than those for native-born working families. Crowding rates also vary by region when compared to native-born with 1 in 5 immigrant working families in the West affected, which is almost twice as high as crowding for immigrants in each of the other 3 regions. The greatest disparity occurs in the Midwest where the crowding rate for immigrants is 6 and one-half times that of native-born.

Although it is perceived by many as just a “city” problem, nearly 45 percent of immigrant working families with critical housing needs live in the suburbs, compared to an only slightly higher 50 percent of immigrants that live in cities. As with native-born, the suburbs are home to a greater proportion of immigrant homeowners with critical housing needs, and the central cities are where immigrant renters with critical housing needs are more likely to reside. Only a small proportion of immigrants with critical needs live in non-metropolitan areas, where native-born with critical needs are 4 times as likely to be found.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, it is not only recent immigrant arrivals that experience housing problems. Of the low- to moderate-income immigrant working families with critical housing needs more than one-third arrived in the United States between 1980 and 1989, demonstrating that critical housing needs decline little, if at all, with the length of time immigrant families have lived in the United States. About one-quarter arrived before 1980, and another 25 percent arrived between 1990 and 1996, with the remaining 15 percent being more recent arrivals.

The Center for Housing Policy initiated this study because of the social and economic implications of decent and affordable housing for immigrants. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, although it is still the case that most of the nation’s foreign-born population live in the 6 major traditional gateway states of California , New York, Texas, Florida, New Jersey and Illinois, the immigrant population has grown by 145 percent in 22 new growth states including North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona and Tennessee. Many of these same markets may not have sufficient housing supply to accommodate the influx of new residents, while state and local governments, already under fiscal strain, may lack the resources to provide supportive services.

In addition, the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University found recent immigrants were critical to the nation’s economic growth in the past decade, accounting for half of the new wage earners who joined the labor force in those years. That same study also cited evidence that most immigrants contribute more in taxes than they use in services.

“America’s Newest Working Families: Cost, Crowding and Conditions for Immigrants” is the first in a series of studies funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and is also a continuation of previous research conducted by the Center for Housing Policy on the housing needs of working families. The full study, as well as other recent publications, can be downloaded from NHC’s Web site at www.nhc.org.

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