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What could you buy with $15? A meal? A new shirt? Well, $15 an hour is what about 59% of New Yorkers rely on to make a living, create a stable life for themselves, and attempt to live their lives to the fullest. Though I am only sixteen years old, I’ve experienced the struggles of trying to find affordable housing in a place like New York through my parents. Despite both my parents working minimum wage jobs, our family still struggled to make ends meet and take care of all of our expenses. Many people are struggling to earn enough money to ensure that they don’t go homeless. They are not being cared for, are left to fight for themselves, and live their lives depending on the minimum wage and the broken housing system. Nonetheless, there are people barely surviving off their wages, and their lives will only continue to plummet if nothing is done to help those in need.
There is about 22% of New Yorkers that is struggling to provide for themselves and or their families. My family lived off of food stamps for many years and only declined the extra help this year because of my sibling’s ages. Being a family of six at the time, it was difficult to make enough money to ensure that we always had food to put on the table. Growing up, my mother was a stay-at-home mom and took care of our family’s needs by dropping off and picking me and my sisters up from school, cleaning, cooking, and managing the household. My father worked a full-time job to provide for our family economically. However, as my sisters and I grew older and my mother became pregnant for the fifth time, it became clear that she would have to get a job of her own. Though now both of my parents are working full-time jobs, there were still times when we struggle to afford all of our expenses. However, my family is one example of this large problem. It has been estimated that “to live comfortably in New York City, a person should make $30,294 per year after taxes” (stefanieoconnell.com). Based on the minimum wage in New York, it is very difficult to 'live comfortably' because you’ll be earning a lot less. For instance, households in the bottom 20% of the income distribution have an average income of $15,728, according to the Economic Policy Institute). Other families make less than half the amount needed to live a stable life in New York. It is not possible to find a fair-priced home if the minimum wage doesn’t support an economically stable lifestyle.
People’s rents are being raised, but the overall conditions are not. Temma Tainow, a woman who had lived in the West Village building for 34 years, describes that “on a Friday morning in early August 2016, [she] was jarred awake by what sounded like an explosion. She stumbled into her kitchen and screamed. A leg dangled from a hole punched through her ceiling” (The New York Times). The conditions in which people are living do not meet the price that they pay. Because city and state lawmakers began tarnishing the rent laws in 1993, “the city has lost over 152,000 regulated apartments because landlords have pushed the rent too high” (The New York Times), resulting in more people without a home. It is not fair that people are supposed to pay such high prices for bad housing conditions. My apartment, though somewhat spacious, requires a renovation. Still, our landlord refuses to do anything about our constant complaints about the weak walls, leaking ceiling, and lack of heat, despite my parents having lived there for about 25 years now. Though this might not be a problem for everyone, it is still a realistic one that people face making it harder to settle in an apartment where rent is high. Yet, we rarely hear about such a detrimental issue. Where are the people who care?
It is important to become more aware of the situation that is affecting us all for it allows us to take part in far more big steps towards a solution. Though to some people it may seem like finding appropriate housing is not much of a problem, affordable housing satisfies a basic human need for shelter. Affordable housing is the base that can change a person’s life for it affects their job opportunities, whether they have food to eat, and what they can do with their lives. Finding an accessible home is extremely important for millions of people throughout the world. And in the end, people will always need a place to live. Having a place to call home is a necessity, and without the proper knowledge of the problem, no solution can be reached.
If New York City had more affordable housing, more people would be taken care of and there would be fewer people in fear of becoming homeless. To help support this cause, we can promote more funds through bond elections. Bond fundraising allows for the state to raise money for various purposes, in this case towards creating more affordable housing (lao.ca.gov). Though we are unable to vote, that does not mean that we are denied the right to use our voices. We can do this through protests and flyers to show others that this is a problem that deserves more recognition. With more people aware of the lack of affordable housing and its impacts on many individuals’ lives, local governments can recommend designating funds for particular projects or developments, allowing citizens to vote on the spending plans. So, what benefit do high housing prices have on society if it means leaving many others behind trying to find a realistic solution to their economic troubles? By gaining more insight into this problem and bringing more light onto this problem, we are moving many steps closer to fulfilling the lives of many individuals by showing them that they do matter and that they will be able to establish an economically stable life for themselves.
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