Introduction

Housing is a key determinant of quality of life that can be measured at individual, household, and community levels (Campbell, Converse, & Rodgers, 1976). It is unique among consumer goods in its pervasive economic, social, and psychological significance (Smizik & Stone, 1988; Stone, 1991). The physical and social environments, within the house and the neighborhood, support family functioning and children's personal growth (Bartlett, 1997; Kaufman, 1996; Sprague, 1991; Stone, 1993). The purpose of the concept paper is to identify housing issues in Minnesota and focus discussion on strategic responses from the University of Minnesota Extension Service.

Current Situation and Future Trends

Some housing problems are general across the state:

• Emphasis on homeownership rather a continuum of housing options.
• Many citizens equate housing affordability with housing assistance.
• Residents want information on how to maintain a safe, healthy home environment.
• High rates of residential mobility among low-resource families result in disruptions of friendships, support groups, and adaptation to school and neighborhood surrounding (Wood, Halfon, Scarlata, Newacheck, & Nessim, 1993 ).
• Escalating housing costs, devolution of federal responsibility to provide housing assistance, and market failures in the provision of affordable housing units, combine to pressure local decision makers to address housing issues.
• Community vitality is influenced by a variety of housing options. Employee recruitment is facilitated in communities with affordable, quality housing.

Some housing problems are specific to locale:

• Small towns and rural areas offer fewer housing alternatives
• Housing affordability is critical in urban areas.
• Homebuyer education and concomitant affordable mortgage products that encourage home ownership for first-time buyers are often scarce in rural communities.
• Family demographics in rural communities, a low proportion of young families, larger families, and lower median incomes and rural housing stock that is predominately owner-occupied, single family units, and more likely than urban housing units to have structural problems suggests a rural housing problem. (Meeks, 1998; Wiener & Belden, 1999).

References

Bartlett, S. N. (1997a). Housing as a factor in the socialization of children: A critical review of the literature. Merrill-Quarterly. 43(2), 169-198.

Campbell, A., Converse, P., & Rodgers, W.L. (Eds.) (1976). The quality of American life: Perceptions, evaluations, and satisfactions. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Kaufman, T.L. (1996). Housing America's future: Children at risk. Washington, DC: National Low Income Housing Coalition/Low Income Housing Information Service.

Meeks, C. (1998). Rural Housing. In W. van Vliet (Ed.) The encyclopedia of housing (pp. 496 - 498).

Sprague. J.F. (1991). More than housing: Lifeboats for women and children. Boston: Butterworth Architecture.

Smizik, F. L., & Stone, M. E. (1988). Single-parent families and a right to housing. In E. A. Mulroy (Ed.), Women as single parents: Confronting institutional barriers in the courts, workplace, and the housing market (pp. 227-270). Dover, MA: Auburn House.

Stone, M. (1993). Shelter Poverty. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Stone, M. (1991). 8 million elderly are shelter poor. Shelterforce, 13(3), 4.

Wiener, R.J., & Belden, J. N. (1999). The context of affordable housing in rural America. In J.N. Belden & R.J. Wiener (Eds.), Housing in Rural America (pp. 3 - 12).

Wood, D., Half, N., Scarlata, D., Newacheck, P., and Nessim, S. (September 15, 1993). Impact of Family Relocation on Children's Growth, Development, School Function, and Behaviors, The Journal of the American Medical Association, 270 (11), 1134-1338.

Opportunities for Extension within Concept Area

There are two potential programming tracts for Extension.

• We need to educate individuals on economic and technological strategies to improve their housing and neighborhood environments.
• We need to position ourselves to facilitate the development of policy and programs that promote a continuum of housing options to provide adequate, affordable, and quality housing for all residents across the life course.

Key Competencies

Members of the Youth and Family Development Capacity area need background and understanding of the competencies that support positive individual housing decisions. They also need to give leadership on community housing decisions that support individual and family housing options, as well as encourage community vitality. One competency is in the ability to help individual households evaluate housing as affordable, appropriate, and healthy so they can attain and maintain safe and stable environments. Another competency is the ability to understand the interrelationships between community development, environmental justice, neighborhood environments, and positive and family development. Finally, we need to apply these skills and knowledge to influence public policy.

Key Resources

Help Yourself to a Healthy Home: Protect Your Children's Health. A publication developed by USDA/CREES and HUD for parents. Educational material on indoor air quality, lead poisoning, drinking water, hazardous household products, and pesticides. Download at http://www.hud.gov:80/hhchild.html

Sandel, M., Sharfstein, J., Shaw, R., Kaplan, S., Pulaski, M., & King, T. (1999). There's no place like home: How American's housing crisis threatens our children. San Francisco: Housing America.

Ziebarth, A., Brown, K., & Elgatian, P. (2000). Community Housing Development: Building a Brighter Future. Urbana: University of Illinois Extension Service. A manual for developing housing initiatives in small rural communities.

Iowa State University Extension Housing Webpage http://www.exnet.iastate.edu/pages/housing/uni-design.html

PATH (Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing) http://www.Pathnet.org/publications/part.pdf. PATH is an initiative to promote an awareness and demand for innovations in housing. The innovations include new materials, planning strategies, and labor-saving and cost-cutting practices that improve residential structures.

Research Institute for Housing America http://www.housingamerica.org

Housing Assistance Council http://www.ruralhome.org.

Authors: Dr. Marilyn Bruin and Diane Corrin