New data shows Massachusetts renters rely heavily on federal housing choice vouchers — sometimes called Section 8 — compared to the rest of the country. Around 10% of renters in the Bay State rely on a housing choice voucher to afford their rent, nearly double the national average of 5.6%.
That's according to a new report from the Boston-based housing advocacy group Citizen's Housing and Planning Association, or CHAPA. They found widespread use of these vouchers across the state, from the Greater Boston area to western Massachusetts.
CHAPA Executive Director of Housing Policy Jennifer Gilbert authored the report. She says it highlights how serious the need for affordable housing is in the state.
"I think a lot of when there was the interruption of SNAP benefits and everybody got to see just how many people relied on SNAP benefits for food," Gilbert said. "Well, I think it's just as striking how many people rely on this voucher. And frankly, it's a lot more support because our rental costs are so high."
On average, voucher holders in Massachusetts would need to make nearly $60,000 more a year to afford median rent without a voucher. In western Massachusetts, that number is closer to $33,000, but base income is lower in that region.
Gilbert described that income gap as "terrifying."
"The first thing it says to me is this resource is incredibly important because these are households that really couldn't live here without that support," she said. "It also says we have created a huge challenge for ourselves and a pretty risky reliance on a federal resource, let's be honest."
To Gilbert, Massachusetts' outsized reliance on a federal assistance program makes the state vulnerable to the machinations of Washington. The Trump administration has already placed new work requirements on programs like SNAP and Medicaid in its second term — a move that critics say hurts some of the nation's most vulnerable populations.
"Administrative burdens lead to people not accessing things that they're entirely entitled to or eligible for just because paperwork is so difficult," Gilbert explained. "How many things are you not submitting correctly and getting rejected? Stuff just goes wrong in these systems. And if you're having to confirm it every six months or less, imagine how many opportunities there are."
New administrative burdens could be on the way for housing choice vouchers: lawmakers are considering new rules for the program that would allow landlords to impose work requirements, and limit how long renters can hold onto a voucher, according to unpublished drafts obtained by ProPublica late last year.
Massachusetts has been struggling to bring down soaring housing costs across the state. A recent report on the state of housing in western Massachusetts found that half of all renters in the region are considered 'cost-burdened' — meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on their housing.
