Poverty and housing

The Thing That Keeps Us Poor

How rethinking a cherished American ideal might help

This picture suggests my $125-per-month college basement apartment, which I paid for by scraping together multiple $3.35 per hour jobs, wasn’t so bad. Personal photo.

A lot of us see being able to live in our own space as an important milestone. It sure was to me. When I was growing up I could not wait to move out.

I spent the summer after my freshman year back home with my parents, but after a taste of freedom, I found it impossible to return to living under strict parental rules and from then on I stayed in my college town all year until I graduated. I was thrilled to find a not-very-nice but extremely cheap basement apartment I could (barely) afford by working several minimum wage jobs.

I wanted to be free. Independent. Able to live my own way.

If my goal had been poverty, I could hardly have chosen a better way to ensure it.

This photo of my $125-per-month basement apartment bathroom gives you a better idea of how horrible it was. That shower would not come clean. As you can see, even my much-missed old cat Putter found it disgusting. Personal photo.

In many areas, housing costs are through the roof.

That’s if you can even afford to have a roof over your head at all. In bigger cities, there are whole encampments of people who have jobs but still can’t afford housing. Some people live in their cars and shower…