In the media

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Our research is regularly cited in national and local news outlets; below is some of our recent press coverage.

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ABC News

'I eat or I pay my bills': Americans describe rent burden fears, concerns

Rent reached historic highs in 2021 and 2022, the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University report found. And currently, more Americans are burdened by rent than ever before. Harvard defines "cost-burdened households" as those that spend more than 30% of income on rent and utilities.

American Planning Association

Finding Solutions for Older Adults to Age in Grace

The nation's overall housing supply already faces a severe shortage and challenges, according to the report America's Rental Housing 2024 by Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS), as the number of renter households spending more than 30 percent of their income on rent and utilities has reached a new high of 22.4 million, while the median age of renters is now 44.

Newsweek

Companies Are Starting to Give Employees Money for Rent

A report issued by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University last month found that in 2022, an unprecedented 50 percent of U.S. renters spent 30 percent or more of their income on rent and utilities. Worse still, nearly half of that group are severely cost-burdened, dedicating more than 50 percent of their income to housing costs.

The New York Times

A New ‘Holy Grail’ in the Housing Crisis: Statewide Rent Caps

From coast to coast, housing has emerged as perhaps the biggest statehouse issue this year. The number of households considered by the federal government to be rent-burdened — meaning that rent consumes more than 30 percent of their income — climbed to a record high of 22.4 million in 2022, according to a new report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.

NPR

Unaffordable rental market hits record heights

Rent has skyrocketed in the United States. That means Americans are handing over a bigger portion of their paycheck to their housing costs, leaving less money for things like food, electricity and commuting. The pandemic and inflation have both played a role in pushing rents higher, but Whitney Airgood-Obrycki, senior research associate at Harvard's Joint Center on Housing Studies, says it's not all bad news.