, Columnist
The US Housing Crisis Is Really About Low-Wage Jobs
Affordability has two elements: price and income. The latter needs more attention than it gets.
Necessary but not sufficient.
Photographer: Seth Herald/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
America’s housing crisis is often portrayed as a matter of supply. Depending on whom you ask, the shortfall is anywhere from 1.5 million to 7 million homes. Much of the policy debate focuses on how to close that gap.
Yet there’s a deeper and less tractable problem: Even if housing gets built, it won’t do much good if people can’t afford to live there. And far too many can’t.