Obtaining affordable housing in New York has been an obstacle for quite some time, but today’s economy has made it a crisis. Data has shown that over 91,800 people are homeless on any given night in New York State (National Alliance to End Homelessness 2024). That number is frightening. 

We surveyed residents of New York State, asking them to tell us about how housing costs have impacted their lives. Our Google Forms survey was titled “Unaffordable Housing Experiences & Impacts,” and accepted responses from March 7th, 2024, until March 29th, 2024. Of the 80 respondents, six were not residents of New York State and therefore will not be included in the following information. Of the 74 New York Residents, more than a third considered their housing costs to be unaffordable but manageable with other financial sacrifices. Another third didn’t feel that their housing costs were unaffordable but felt that it could quickly become so if anything changed. Only eight respondents felt that their housing costs were reasonably affordable. When asked what percentage of their income went to monthly rent, 44 residents responded. Of these residents, only five confidently answered less than 30%, the percentage often considered to be an affordable housing cost. More than 30% of these respondents were unsure which percentage category their rent fell in. Nearly half shared that their rent comprised anywhere from 30% to 80% of their income, with twelve of these twenty residents claiming rent to be upwards of 50%. The stories shared by those facing this housing crisis can be considered even more striking than the data we’ve shared. Several respondents shared that the housing costs are so severe, they have been forced to remain living with their parents or family as adults to be able to get by. One resident emulated this by writing, “I believe the housing market is super unaffordable – therefore I live with my parents” (Unaffordable Housing Experiences & Impacts, 2024). Another wrote, “My 28-year-old sister still lives at home because she can’t afford to move out. I’m 20 [years old] and can’t fathom moving out because I can’t afford to” (Unaffordable Housing Experiences & Impacts, 2024).

More detailed responses were given, showing how significant the issue has been for individuals and families as they battle this housing crisis; “When rent is 40-50% of the income per month you have to sacrifice with lower Wi-Fi packages, you keep your heat lower to reduce the bill, and carefully look at electricity usage. It also pushes you to limit the amount of home-cooked meals you make [because] grocery prices are so high. It also makes it difficult to increase your savings for car, house, ext. since a majority of the paycheck you receive goes towards basic necessities.” Further, a respondent shared that their family has had to move “7 times in the last 12 years” because of fluctuating rent costs (Unaffordable Housing Experiences & Impacts, 2024).

These issues surpass what our survey was able to collect, surpassing even just what is collected in New York State. In 2018, HuffPost published an article in which they “chronicled multiple angles of the housing crisis” (Hobbes, 2018). The piece includes several quotes from Americans who have faced this crisis just like many New Yorkers, citing serious compromises and life choices made due to this. These included choosing between tuition and rent, delaying marriage, or having children, and even the constant anxiety that comes with these scenarios. The financial implications of these absurd housing costs are so extreme that “in nearly every response, someone mentioned fearing homelessness, eviction, a job loss or a medical bill” (Hobbes, 2018). 

The increase in homelessness is a direct result of the increased costs of housing. Thomas DiNapoli, the state comptroller, reported that “2.8 million New York households faced housing costs that were 30 percent or more of their income” (DiNapoli 2019). Programs have been developed to offer affordable housing to the community such as STEL housing, but the waiting lists are overwhelmed with people. Spectrum News stated that, “274000 people are on housing waiting lists in New York State” (Spectrum News Staff 2024). We believe that implementing sliding scales can help to reduce the number of people who are homeless. 

A sliding scale fee is a type of cost or tax that may change depending on several related factors. These fees are intended to extract value based on the change of some underlying variable, most frequently revenue or income. These fees are intended to increase equity in the market, especially for low-income individuals and households. There are several factors to consider when determining and developing a sliding scale, including costs, average fees in the area, desired salaries, and the number of people they serve. Sliding scales are great for those who have a tight budget due to a limited income and can save money by paying less for their monthly rent. Sliding scales remove that cost barrier and help reduce financial stress when it comes to affordable housing. There are some downsides of paying on a sliding scale, which is that there are limited places that offer a sliding scale. Along with losing valuable commodities like time and money. Although, grant funding or donations can be done by businesses and organizations to cover revenue deficits by offering services to the less fortunate at a lower price than the going rate. 

Sliding scales are used mostly in therapy, allowing for selectively reduced fees for clients who can’t afford the going rate, while still charging the high fees to other clients who can afford it. Using the sliding scale fee gives yourself the freedom to adjust fees downward which lets you help people you want to help, even if they can’t afford your full therapy rate. Anything that allows or enables you to assist more people like these sliding scales can be viewed as morally right and demonstrates your concern for their well-being over your own financial gain. Research indicates that mental health disorders disproportionately impact those living in poverty, and there are a number of known causes for this. To begin with, poverty is a major cause of stress. Additionally, there is a higher chance of trauma exposure in low-income areas, which raises the likelihood of mental health issues. Access to essential mental health services is more secure for those in need because of sliding scale therapy. Sliding-scale fees for therapy and counseling services eliminate the financial barrier that keeps many people from getting the care they need. Using a sliding fee scale can also lead to better outcomes and reduced stress. People who struggle to afford therapy might have to sacrifice other needs to pay for their essential mental health care. People may concentrate on their mental health rather than worrying about the expense of therapy and how it will affect their finances when treatment is more reasonably priced. If we foster and allow for sliding scales to be used when it comes to paying the monthly rent, we will see so many positives come out of it and emphasis the idea of affordable housing again. The outrageous price of living is causing unbearable stress for individuals and especially families. Allowing sliding scale fees for housing would eliminate the cost barriers and that pressure to come up with the rent money each week and possibly even sacrificing other basic needs like food to be able to make rent. Shelter is a basic essential that every person should have no matter what their income is. 

Currently New York State offers a variety of different housing assistance programs whether it be for renting or buying. The biggest issue for those looking for affordable housing is they have to go through a long and strict application process and are often limited in the homes or rentals in which they have to choose from. A sliding scale housing program would offer the same housing options to people of different economic backgrounds at an affordable price based on their income. While researching the different programs that NYS has to offer it is evident that program options are plenty, but there is not a centralized application for those looking for assistance. By implementing a sliding scale housing program in NYS it could be used in two different ways. 

The first would be to create a general centralized application for all housing assistance programs in NYS so individuals can view the different housing opportunities they would have access to. This could be implemented through the creation of a new state application portal that would provide a comprehensive list of housing resources they would be able to qualify for. A sliding scale could be implemented in this application by NYS rearranging its programs in a way that would provide the most assistance to those with the lowest incomes. A sliding scale would be used to offer appropriate assistance to those of each income bracket. Overall, this would benefit both the individuals in search of assistance as they would be connected to programs that they would qualify for rather than wasting time filling out applications that they do not qualify for. Additionally, this would help state agencies in the reviewing of applications as they would only be receiving applicants that qualify as the generalized application through the use of a sliding scale would filter out individuals that do not qualify for certain programs but would qualify for others. 

The second way a sliding scale may be implemented in NYS for housing would be the creation of a whole new housing assistance program. Many housing programs across the state such as SONYMA, NYS HAF, NYS HCR, NYS ERAP and OTDA ERAP offer great assistance programs. However as mentioned before they sometimes are not able to support individuals enough. In many of these programs they have income limits or minimum income required and if the individual is outside of either of the categories, they may not be able to receive any assistance. Through the implementation of a sliding scale housing assistance program anyone who needs assistance would be allocated an amount based on the different income brackets that would come into place. The income brackets that would associate to different assistance percentages would be determined by the area in which someone decided to live in much like many of the other program’s NYS has to offer.