Nearly half of all renter households in the US were cost-burdened in 2023, meaning they paid more than 30% of their income towards housing costs, according to new government data.
30% is widely considered to be the most you should pay for a living space in order to live a sustainable lifestyle and retire comfortably. It even says in the article that they consider anyone that has to pay more than that to be "cost burdened".
It usually breaks down somewhere around 30% on housing, 20% on necessary bills, 30% on wants / unnecessary bills, and 20% on retirement investments / savings.
The fact that nearly half of renters cannot do that is the problem that they are trying to highlight, but it doesn't offer much of a solution. These people will not be able to retire without public assistance (if they can at all), and will likely run into serious struggles long before then.
Yeah, these articles are clearly made for and about upper middle class people who are now feeling the pinch. Us actual poor people were at 30% when? Maybe 40 years ago? Most families now need 3-4 jobs just to get by
I'm in Canada, I currently am lucky enough to have a job that includes housing. If I didn't, 100% of my paycheck would go to rent and I'd still be short. I am not kidding. A full time job at $4 above minimum wage, still won't get you enough to rent in my city.
I'm surprised we haven't started building guillotines yet