Why Americans are spending more on rent

Washington

THE affordable housing crisis many renters face today in the US feels like a product of this particular moment. The homeownership rate has tumbled since the housing bubble, pushing more and more people into rentals. Thanks to the recession, new construction hasn't kept pace with population growth. The weak economy has meanwhile made it hard for families to cover their rent.

To top it off, more people are moving to cities like San Francisco and DC, pushing up competition there for scarce housing.

Take a longer view, though, and an even more depressing picture emerges: high housing costs in America have been building for decades.

In 1960, less than a quarter of all renter households spent 30 per cent or more of their income on housing. That's the cut-off (pre-tax) for what's generally considered affordable…