Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson has been inaccurately describing his proposals to cut housing benefits through rent increases, rigid work requirements, and de facto time limits for low income families. He has also offered an ever-changing rationale for these harmful policy changes. I’d like to set the record straight.
Carson proposes raising rents on families living in poverty from 30 percent of their adjusted income to 35 percent of their gross income. This move will not, as he claims, increase “self-sufficiency.” For households living paycheck to paycheck, an average rent increase of $117 a month means less money for groceries, medications, childcare, and other basic needs, let alone investments in their futures, including education and training. Moreover, the elimination of income deductions for childcare costs will actually make it harder for families to work.
