[PEN-L:6110] Re: Poverty Rate Note

[S Pawlett <epawlett@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Tim Stroshane wrote:

>
> At a conference last week, I heard it said that in some
> California rental markets, something like 80 percent of the
> tenants pay more than 50 percent of their incomes in rent.
> (Until I get the reports from which this is quoted, please,
> everyone on the list, consider this factoid second-hand hearsay.)
> If that's true, then the poverty rate doesn't tell the story in
> California, hardly at all.

Up the coast here in Vancouver, about 80-90%of a welfare check goes to
rent and about 1 in 10 are on welfare. That means 90% of a welfare check
goes to landlords. Often these are absentee landlords who keep the
buildings in very poor shape. Landlords becoming rich off of welfare.
Sickening.  A decent argument for public housing I would think. Of
course the federal  government keeps has not built a single unit of
public housing in B.C. for several years now. The "social democratic"
provincial government still builds about 1,000 units a year which is way
down from previous years.  There is a 2-3 year waiting list to get into
public housing complexes, most of which are very good.


- Sam Pawlett -