Young People Are Trapped by America's Housing Crisis

America is currently facing a housing crisis where a person working a full-time job, paid minimum wage, can't afford a two bedroom apartment in any county in the entire country. And those of us who are renting homes are spending a large chunk of our monthly paychecks just for a roof over our heads—12 million Americans spend half their income on rent.

This problem is especially shitty for low-income people of color, who are caught in a nexus of inflated costs, bad policy, and scheming landlords. And private landlords, unregulated largely by the government, can really screw families over with sudden rent hikes, poor maintenance, and other abuses that leave people desperate with little choice.

Tara Raghuveer, a housing rights advocate and writer, told VICE what's at stake.

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