Then — 1970
+300,000
surplus of affordable homes
More low-cost units than the families who needed them.
~1 in 4
renters were cost-burdened
Homelessness existed, but it was episodic — it rose and fell with the economy.
What changed — 1973 to 1983
Four policy shifts, stacked over a decade, dismantled the supply of low-cost housing:
1
Federal housing moratorium (1973)
Nixon froze federal housing programs for ~18 months, halting public housing construction.
2
Deinstitutionalization without follow-through
Psychiatric patients were released, but the promised community mental-health system was never funded.
3
Loss of SRO housing
Single-room-occupancy units — the cheapest tier for poor single adults — were demolished or converted.
4
HUD budget cut by more than half
Budget authority fell from $83.6B (1976) to under $40B (1982) — a ~50% cut even after inflation.
The result: the U.S. homeless population grew from roughly
125,000 (1980) to an estimated 400,000–600,000 by the late 1980s.
Now — 2024
7.2M
shortfall of rental homes affordable to the lowest-income renters
37 / 100
affordable homes available for every 100 extremely low-income renters
770,000+
people homeless on a single night — a record 18% jump in one year
The swing, in one line
A swing of about 7.5 million affordable units — against a growing population.
This was built by policy over 50 years.
It can be solved by policy too — which is why it can't be solved by law enforcement alone.