Say Something Real
By Michelle Bryant
Michelle Bryant
As the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) advances proposals to slash the agency’s budget, the future of America’s most vulnerable communities hangs in the balance. Central to this proposal is the introduction of time limits on Section 8 housing vouchers—a lifeline for millions who struggle to keep a roof over their heads. While proponents, primarily Republicans in Congress, frame these changes as a push toward self-sufficiency and a cure for dependency, the reality on the ground paints a far more troubling picture.
The communities most at risk are those already teetering on the edge: low-income families, the elderly, the disabled, and working-class Americans whose paychecks can no longer keep pace with soaring rents. Nearly half of all households receiving Section 8 assistance include children, and 18% include seniors or people with disabilities. These are not people “gaming the system.” They are Americans who work jobs that simply do not pay enough to make ends meet.
Consider the city of Chicago, where the waiting list for public housing stretches for years, or Los Angeles, where more than 75,000 people applied for just 20,000 available Section 8 vouchers in a recent cycle. The need is overwhelming, yet the resources are shrinking.
The argument for time-limiting Section 8 vouchers hinges on the belief that recipients will, or should, “pull themselves up by their bootstraps” and quickly transition to market-rate housing. But this ignores a harsh economic reality: Over 60% of non-elderly, non-disabled households using housing vouchers are already in the workforce. These are the working poor—people holding down jobs, sometimes more than one, and still unable to afford rent.
Wages have stagnated for decades. According to the Economic Policy Institute, real wages for the bottom 50% of earners have barely budged since the 1970s, while housing costs have skyrocketed. The federal minimum wage, stuck at $7.25 an hour since 2009, is a relic—utterly out of step with the cost of living in 2025. In most US cities, a full-time worker would need to earn at least $24 an hour to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent. For millions, this is unattainable.
Some local housing authorities have experimented with time limits on rental assistance. For example, the Charlotte Housing Authority piloted a five-year limit on vouchers; the result? Only 27% of participants were able to “graduate” to self-sufficiency. The rest faced housing instability, with some falling into homelessness. Similar results have been seen in other cities, where only 20-30% of families can transition off assistance when time limits are imposed.
Slashing HUD’s budget and imposing arbitrary time limits on Section 8 will not foster independence—it will deepen poverty, destabilize families, and increase homelessness. If we truly care about self-sufficiency, we must demand policies that address the root causes: stagnant wages, unaffordable housing, and a social safety net that is rapidly fraying. Anything less is not just misguided—it is dangerous.