By Wendy Rhodes | Palm Beach Post | USA TODAY NETWORK
Women at a disadvantage in affording a place to live
Anneliese Abreu and her 15-month-old son, Jasiel, need a place to live. And they need it by May 1.
But buying a home is out of the question. Renting isn’t looking too good, either.
Many landlords require potential renters to prove income of at least three times the monthly rent. Although Abreu, 20, works full-time as a chiropractic assistant, her $13-an-hour wage falls well short of the $5,000 she would need to financially qualify for an average one-bedroom apartment in Palm Beach County, which costs about $1,650.
“I’ve been looking at the low-income apartments, but I haven’t been able to find anything,” she said. “I tried applying for Section 8, but that’s closed. I was even willing to drive to Miami, but nothing was open. The waiting lists were all closed.”
Housing out of reach
In Palm Beach County and throughout South Florida, soaring home prices and rising rental costs have rendered housing out of reach for many, said Suzanne Cabrera, president and CEO of the Housing Leadership Council of Palm Beach County.
But women have it worst, according to data.
The median income for a woman in Palm Beach County is $26,739, according to 2019 U.S. Census Bureau data, the latest numbers available. That is $10,923 less than the median income for men ($37,662), the bureau reports. And adequate housing supplies in either price range simply do not exist.
“Most of the time the waiting list is not even open,” Cabrera said. “That’s how bad it is. It’s almost indefinite.”
“Bad” might be an understatement. The council in January released a study showing how many additional low and moderately priced units are needed to meet the county’s demand for affordable housing.
The result? An astounding 77,534 extra units.
“We haven’t been building enough rentals, especially rentals that are affordable to the general public and our workforce,” Cabrera said. “Something like $13 is so far below a wage that you need to afford an apartment in Palm Beach County.”
Abreu’s budget is only $800 per month, including utilities, she said. And, as is typical with many low-income earners, her credit is poor, creating a domino effect on her financial health.
“I wasn’t able to afford my car insurance, which led to my license getting suspended,” she said. “I had to pay people to pick me up and drive my son around.”
Single mothers outnumber men at a rate of two to one
Abreu’s situation is not unique. There are 63,421 single mothers living in Palm Beach County, or twice the number of single fathers, the U.S. Census Bureau reports.
And the rate of unemployment among women is 25% higher than men, particularly since women have been disproportionately forced to stay home with children amid the pandemic fueled shutdown of daycare centers and schools.