In the financial hierarchy of many households’ budgets, rent is the priority.
And with rent taking up the lion’s share of many household budgets forcing families to make due with less, it highlights a fundamental truth: housing stability is inextricably linked with food security.
A household’s rent is a non-negotiable cost to be paid in full every month. You either paid your rent or you didn’t. There is no in between.
In comparison, food is a flexible budget line – often vulnerable to the fluctuations of a family’s financial constraints. Some nights you can water down the milk or sacrifice your own portion so your children will have enough to meet life’s costs.
For many of the people the Houston Food Bank serves, the stark reality is that after accounting for housing, utilities, transportation, and other household necessities; there is often not enough for a nutritious meal.
In Harris County, we have seen a growing number of renters, now one in four, devoting over half of their income to rent. This leaves little room for error in the household budget, with many families only one unexpected expense, missed paycheck, or medical emergency away from food insecurity.
The issue we see here is increasing rents outpacing wages.
In Houston and the surrounding area, rental prices have skyrocketed, outpacing the median household income. This disproportionate increase has forced many families to pay more of their take home on housing – with a majority of renters having to spend over 30% of their income on housing.
This erosion of the household budget due to rising housing costs is more than an individual budget issue; it’s a direct contributor to the connected problems of hunger and housing instability.
Research has shown a compelling relationship between housing and food security: to effectively address food insecurity, one must simultaneously confront the challenge of housing instability.
At the Houston Food Bank, our commitment to addressing hunger goes beyond the distribution of food. We recognize that food insecurity is a multifaceted issue, rooted in economic instability and systemic inequalities, made only worse by the burden of housing.
Our vision is a world that doesn’t need food banks, to achieve this we must begin at the root causes and the inextricably linked factors – starting with housing.
