More than 1 in 10 Americans faced times in the past year when they could not afford adequate housing, according to a Gallup Pollwhich documents how access to affordable housing remains a worldwide problem as countries struggle to emerge from the Great Recession.
People in the U.S. , Europe and Canada, though are in better shape than residents of the former Soviet countries and Sub-Saharan Africa where 31% of adults in each region told G
allup that they did not have enough money to provide adequate� housing for themselves or their families.� In Latin America and the Caribbean the figure is 21% and in Asia it’s 17%. � Pollsters found that 14% of residents of North Africa and the Middle East worried about keeping a roof over their heads along with 8% of residents of Europe and 5% of those living in Canada.
Azerbaijan records the highest percentage (76%) of residents who say they didn’t have enough money for adequate housing of the 128 countries Gallup surveyed in 2009 and 2010. About 4 in 10 residents surveyed in neighboring Georgia (43%) and in Turkmenistan (38%) and Kyrgyzstan (41%) also worried about affordable housing.� This also remains a problem in the Baltic countries of Latvia and Estonia, where 19% say they struggled to afford shelter.
The picture also is bleak in parts of Africa and Asia.� About half or more of adults in Liberia (53%), Chad (51%), and Tanzania (46%) report problems in affording a place to live. Surprisingly, only 19% of residents of Zimbabwe, which has been a disaster economically for years, report that they are dealing with the issue.� This figure has remained little changed� since 2006 and is similar to what pollsters found in South Africa (15%).
Though Singaporeans, at 1%, are the least likely in the world to report housing problems, roughly half of respondents in Cambodia (50%), the Philippines (49%), and Afghanistan (47%) say they’ve faced this situation.� The average remains low throughout the M! iddle Ea st except for Bahrain, where it hits 46%, though the government there has pledged $1 billion to tackle the problem.
Ironically, despite the glut in homes, the problem of affordable homes has only become worse. �The problem is due to the new draconian lending practices of banks, unemployment and the fear that housing has not stopped dropping.
–Jonathan Berr
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