As Rents, Utilities, and Everyday Expenses Outpace Incomes, Advocates Push Sweeping Policy Changes to Address a Deepening Affordability Crisis
Advocates across the country have unveiled what they’re describing as the “Affordability Agenda” to combat the cost-of-living crisis.
The agenda was released in response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address in February. During the speech, Trump described affordability as a problem Democrats created by voting for policies like the Affordable Care Act and former President Joe Biden’s affordable housing policies. He also seemed to dismiss concerns from voters that affordability is a problem at all, even though several polls show it is the top issue voters care about as the midterms approach.
“Lower interest rates will solve the Biden-created housing problem, while at the same time protecting the values of those people who already own a house that really feel rich for the first time in their lives,” Trump said during the speech. “We want to protect those values. We want to keep those values up. We’re going to do both—and keep it that way.”
Trump’s description of affordability lines up with some of his administration’s actions as well. For instance, the second Trump administration has gutted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has policed deceptive financial products for more than a decade. The administration has also moved to gut fair housing rules and regulations and roll back civil rights protections, both of which help people of color fully participate in the U.S. economy.
All of this is happening at a time when homelessness and housing instability are rising rapidly across the U.S. As of 2024, more than 771,000 people experienced homelessness, which represents an 18% increase when compared to 2023. Meanwhile, cities spanning from New York City to San Francisco have reported increases in unsheltered homelessness as the cost of rent, food, and utilities continues to rise.
Rents Are Rising Faster Than Incomes
The latest data from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies found that more than 22.7 million renter households are considered cost-burdened, meaning they pay more than the recommended 30% of their income on housing and utility costs. That total represents an increase of 2.3 million renter households since 2019, according to the report.
The primary driver of this trend is that rents are outpacing income growth in most parts of the country. According to Harvard’s data, the median rent in the U.S. increased by 30% between 2001 and 2024. Meanwhile, the median renter household income grew by just 9% over the same time. Those issues became even more pressing during the COVID-19 pandemic as median rents surged 12% compared to the 4% growth in incomes for renter households, according to the report.
“We are not asking for charity,” Carrieann Smith, an unhoused leader of Vocal Texas, a grassroots group that advocates and organizes with people experiencing homelessness, said during a recent press conference. “We are demanding policies that work. We are workers. We are neighbors. We are humans, and we will continue to organize until this is done.”
Smith is part of a coalition called the “May Day Strong Coalition” that has released a policy agenda aimed at improving affordability for working families. The agenda focuses on six key areas:
- Prohibiting rent gouging
- Raising the minimum wage to at least $25 an hour and ending the subminimum wage
- Implementing universal childcare, free public college, and health care for all
- Strengthening workers’ rights and establishing a public jobs guarantee
- Taxing extreme wealth and ending corporate tax loopholes
A Growing Movement for Economic Justice
More than 100 bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the U.S. to achieve these ends, according to legislation tracked by the State Innovation Exchange’s economic justice initiative. Ida Eskamani, the senior director of the initiative, told Fast Company that the bills represent just the start of the movement.
“We expect many more, and we continue to see momentum,” she said.
Other advocates have introduced plans to tackle the rising cost of energy and protect the fair housing laws that the Trump administration seeks to cut. For instance, the People’s Action Institute has created a “Blueprint for Affordable Energy” plan that calls on lawmakers to stop utility shutoffs, build new renewable energy systems, and make utilities pay their fair share for infrastructure upgrades.
Research from the advocacy group Powerlines found that utility costs have soared 40% since 2019, and more than 80 million people struggle to pay for utilities, food, and health care every month. Those costs seem likely to continue growing as the Trump administration continues its war in Iran, which has caused oil prices to skyrocket. Tech companies are also building data centers across the country, which has caused water issues and increased utility costs for some nearby residents.
“Americans are struggling to pay bills from their investor-owned utilities,” Blueprint for Affordable Energy Coauthor Mónica Mariko Embrey said in a statement. “Energy bills outpaced inflation, while investor-owned utilities are doubling down on more expensive fossil fuel infrastructure to maximize future profits.”
Energy Costs and Housing Protections Under Pressure
The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) has also called on the Trump administration to reverse course and protect fair housing laws across the U.S. In two recent executive orders, the Trump administration eliminated key fair housing protections that the organization said will “remove critical mortgage protections responsible for fairness and do little to nothing to boost the supply of affordable housing.”
Fair housing laws can promote affordability by increasing competition in the housing market. They are also a key tool to address segregation, redlining, and exclusionary zoning practices that prevent communities from building more affordable housing options.
“Voters demanded comprehensive solutions to America’s fair and affordable housing crisis, not a piecemeal approach that would weaken fundamental civil rights without making everyday life more affordable,” NFHA Executive Vice President Nikitra Bailey said in a press release. “People want real solutions to drive down the cost of rent, mortgages, insurance, utilities, and taxes while expanding access to homeownership.”
What Happens Next Is a Policy Choice
Now is not the time to be silent about homelessness in the United States or anywhere else. Unhoused people deserve safe and sanitary housing just as much as those who can afford rent or a mortgage.
Poverty and homelessness are both policy choices, not personal failures. That’s why we need you to contact your officials and tell them you support legislation that:
- Streamlines the development of affordable housing
- Reduces barriers for people experiencing homelessness to enter permanent housing
- Bolsters government response to homelessness
Together, we can end homelessness.