Federal Housing Assistance, Explained with Charts
Nearly 90 percent of the more than 4.6 million households that receive rental assistance through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are elderly, disabled, working (or worked recently), or likely had access to work programs under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.
Over 5 million low-income households receive help affording modest homes through federal rental assistance, primarily in the form of Housing Choice Vouchers, Section 8 Project-based Rental Assistance, or Public Housing.
The federal government spent $190 billion in 2015 to help Americans buy or rent homes, but little of that spending went to the families who struggle the most to afford housing. As these charts show, federal housing expenditures are unbalanced in two respects: they target a disproportionate share of subsidies on higher-income households and they favor homeownership over renting.
Increasing rents and stagnating wages have made it harder for families to keep a roof over their heads. Yet, funding for rental assistance has fallen sharply over the last six years.