Rising Housing Costs and Family Structure in Rhode Island
This paper explores the impact of rapidly rising housing costs in Rhode Island on both nuclear and extended family structures. Drawing on data from federal agencies, housing advocacy organizations, and demographic research, the paper documents the severity of Rhode Island's housing affordability crisis as it stood in the early 2000s. It examines the roles of government bodies such as HUD and the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation, as well as private nonprofit organizations, in addressing the shortage of affordable housing. The paper also analyzes how escalating costs may force family members to relocate, fragment extended family networks, and drive young adults back into their parents' homes — a phenomenon widely known as the "boomerang kid" trend — ultimately reshaping the composition of Rhode Island's families and communities.
- The Housing Crisis in Rhode Island: Scale and causes of Rhode Island's housing affordability crisis
- Housing Assistance for Rhode Island Residents: Federal, state, and nonprofit housing assistance programs and their limits
- Barriers to Affordable Housing in Rhode Island: Community development policies that impede lower-cost housing construction
- The Effect of Rising Housing Costs on the Nuclear and Extended Family: Relocation pressures and the boomerang kid phenomenon in Rhode Island
- Conclusion: Summary of housing crisis impact on Rhode Island family structure
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What makes this paper effective
- Strong use of specific statistics and named sources — median home prices, population figures, per-capita income, and waiting list numbers ground the argument in concrete evidence.
- Logical progression from macro problem (statewide housing crisis) to micro impact (family structure), making the thesis coherent and well-supported throughout.
- Acknowledges counterevidence (population actually grew 4.5% despite rising costs) without abandoning the central argument, demonstrating intellectual honesty.
- Connects policy failure (declining federal funding since 1981) directly to family-level consequences, bridging the gap between government policy and social outcomes.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates effective triangulation of evidence — combining government data, nonprofit reports, news sources, and legislative text to support a multidimensional argument. Rather than relying on a single type of source, the author cross-references demographic trends, income statistics, and housing market analyses to build a cumulative case. This technique is especially visible in the section on boomerang kids, where national trend data is connected to local Rhode Island conditions through a chain of cited evidence.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a brief framing paragraph establishing the central tension, then proceeds through five sections: a detailed portrait of the housing crisis using price and population data; a survey of government and private assistance programs and their limitations; a discussion of regulatory barriers to affordable housing construction; an analysis of effects on nuclear and extended family structure (including relocation and boomerang kids); and a short conclusion synthesizing the findings and projecting future trends. Each section builds logically on the previous one.
The Housing Crisis in Rhode Island
The prohibitively rising cost of housing in Rhode Island has affected both the nuclear and extended family. Rising housing costs may force family members to move to less expensive areas, causing a breakdown in both extended and nuclear family structure. However, this may be balanced by the increased tendency of young adults — who cannot afford the high housing costs in Rhode Island — to live at home.
Data outlined below indicate that the housing crisis in Rhode Island is very real and immediate. Individuals across Rhode Island society are beginning to feel the constraints of the difficult housing market, and low-income individuals are feeling the greatest strain. Given that federal and private agencies are unable to keep up with the increasing demand for housing assistance for low-income residents, the housing crisis will only continue to grow. As a result, the pressures on the nuclear and extended family are expected to intensify into the foreseeable future.
The rising cost of housing is affecting Americans nationwide. Rapidly increasing home prices can have many effects, from changing the condition and size of the home that a family can afford, to often pricing them right out of the market for buying a home altogether. In a recent study by the National Association of Realtors, 44% of Americans said rising housing costs had forced them to rent rather than buy, and 56% said that costs forced them to buy a smaller home than was needed (Real Estate News).
The Statewide Housing Action Coalition for Massachusetts notes, "There is a critical shortage of affordable, accessible, decent housing in our state." Since 2000, the median sales price for a single-family home in Massachusetts increased to $164,800 in 2002, a 21% increase. The median price of a single-family home in Rhode Island surpassed $184,000 in 2002, a 19% increase over the year before (Arditi). Condominium sales fell 7% in the second quarter, but prices climbed; the median price of a condo in that quarter was $147,900, up from $118,500 a year earlier — a gain of nearly 25% (Arditi).
The housing situation in Rhode Island is dire for many residents. Habitat for Humanity Rhode Island reports that in 1998 there were 23,000 "worst case" households in the metro Rhode Island area who paid over half their incomes for rent — or were living in substandard housing — and had incomes 50% below the area median income. The agency also reports that in 1998 there were 967 Providence households on the waiting list for HUD assistance (Habitat for Humanity: Providence, RI). Additionally, 11,000 worst-case households were living in suburbs across Providence, Kent, Washington, and Bristol Counties in Rhode Island, and Norfolk and Worcester Counties in Massachusetts (Habitat for Humanity: Providence). The average monthly fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the metro area was $655 (Habitat for Humanity: Providence).
Rhode Island's increasing population suggests that housing price increases are likely to continue into the near future. In 1990, Rhode Island's population was 1,003,464, and it rose to 1,048,319 in 2000, representing a significant population increase of 4.5%. Newport County showed a 2.0% loss in population from 1990 to 2000, while Washington County showed a 12.3% increase (Economic Research Service, County-level). Further, only 8.1% of Rhode Island's population lives in non-urban areas. The high urban population, combined with significant population growth over the past ten years, suggests that the pressures on housing in Rhode Island will not decrease in the foreseeable future (Economic Research Service, County-level).
Per-capita income for the metro area of Rhode Island was $28,709 in 2000, with the non-metro area at $33,659. Statewide per-capita income was $29,113. The poverty rate for the metro area was 12.4% in 1999, and 7.1% for the non-metro area, with a statewide poverty rate of 11.9% (Economic Research Service, Rhode Island). The unemployment rate was also relatively consistent across the state: in 2002, 4.7% of state residents were unemployed, compared to 4.8% of metro residents and 3.8% of non-metro residents (Economic Research Service, Rhode Island). Both the per-capita income and poverty rate for Rhode Islanders are very similar to those for Massachusetts as a whole. As such, the problems in providing low-cost housing in Rhode Island are likely not due to an inordinately low income or poverty rate among residents. Clearly, other factors — such as local real estate demand and pricing — must play an important role in the prohibitive cost of housing in Rhode Island.
Habitat for Humanity, Providence sees the current housing crisis as the result of both a decline in federal funding and recent trends in labor and housing markets that have put affordable housing out of the reach of many residents. The organization states that "the result of the trends in the labor and housing markets, and the abandonment of the poor by the federal and state governments, is a squeeze involving declining incomes and a declining stock of affordable housing" (Habitat for Humanity: Providence, RI).
Rhode Island housing prices are rising due to two main factors: a sluggish stock market and low mortgage rates. Low mortgage rates encourage first-time buyers to purchase homes, and they also encourage investors to put their money into real estate rather than the market. People in search of summer homes are also driving up real estate prices (Arditi). The returns on real estate investment have been striking: "If you bought a house in Providence last spring for $95,000, you could probably sell it today for $120,000 — a rate of return of over 26%" (Arditi).
At the moment, real estate prices in Rhode Island are expected to continue to rise. However, the stock market's prolonged decline could eventually result in decreased consumer spending. When spending decreases and the stock market continues to fall, that may ultimately hurt the housing market in Rhode Island as well (Arditi).
The housing problem in Rhode Island has far-reaching effects, from its impact on the nuclear and extended family, to homelessness, to a negative effect on Rhode Island's economic expansion. The State of Rhode Island General Assembly succinctly defines the serious extent of the problem:
"Housing costs consume a disproportionate share of income for many Rhode Islanders; housing affordability is a continuing problem, especially for first-time home buyers and lower- and moderate-income renters; the high cost of housing adversely affects the expansion of Rhode Island's economy. Housing affordability and availability affect conditions of homelessness. The high cost of housing and the lack of affordable, decent housing for low-income households is a source of hardship for very low-income persons and families in Rhode Island."
Works Cited
Arditi, Lynn. "House prices in R.I. soar in 2nd quarter. Low mortgage rates and a sluggish stock market promote heavy interest in real estate." The Providence Journal (projo.com), 30 July 2002. 30 October 2002.
Economic Research Service. County-level population data for Rhode Island. 30 October 2002.
Economic Research Service. Rhode Island State Fact Sheet from USDA/ERS. 30 October 2002.
ETP Inc. News and Information Resource. "BOOMERANG KIDS: Strategies for The Not-So-Empty Nest." Last updated: May 31, 2002. 30 October 2002.
Frazier, Billie H., Ph.D. Selected Resources on Adult Children Living at Home. December 1991. 30 October 2002.
Habitat for Humanity: Providence, RI. The Need For Affordable Housing in Providence. 30 October 2002.
Real Estate News. "Pricey Housing Changing American Lifestyles." 30 October 2002.
Rhode Island Fair Housing. "What do we mean when we say 'Fair Housing'?" 30 October 2002.
State of Rhode Island General Assembly. TITLE 42. State Affairs and Government. CHAPTER 42-128. Rhode Island Housing Resources Act of 1998. SECTION 42-128-1. 30 October 2002.
Statewide Housing Action Coalition. Rhode Island is Facing a Housing Crisis. 30 October 2002.
The Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation. 30 October 2002.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mission and History. 30 October 2002.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HOPWA Programs in Rhode Island. 30 October 2002.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. News Release. August 1, 2002. "Bush Administration Announces More Than $11 Million in Housing and Community Development Funds for Rhode Island." 30 October 2002.
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