HouseMate: A proposed national institution to build new homes and sell them cheap to any citizen who does not own a home

• In a world of unequal wealth and incomes, market provision of housing usually fails to provide quality housing options to young and low-income households. Like other necessary goods characterised by monopoly, like healthcare and pharmaceuticals, access to them via pricing creates inherent social challenges.• Historically, the social challenge of unequal access to housing was solved with public intervention to offer non-market housing at lower regulated price to first time buyers and renters.• The proposed HouseMate program is a 21st century housing supplier, copying the best features of Singapore’s successful housing system. • It will sell new homes to eligible Australian citizens at construction cost price, offering them a discounted mortgage, with purchasers able to pay deposit and repayments using their compulsory super contributions. • This new housing alternative will operate in parallel with the private purchase and rental markets. HouseMate owners will have all the rights and obligations of private homeowners, but with a mandatory occupancy period. • The design of HouseMate addresses all the key housing policy challenges in Australia, includingohigh deposit hurdles for first homebuyers,ouncertainty and high rents for low-income households,oyounger households tying up income in super when homeownership is a higher priority for retirement, oprice effects and inefficiencies of demand-only subsidy programs to homebuyers (like FHB grants) and renters (NRAS payments), and olimited innovation of design and construction in private housing markets.• If secure, low-cost housing via homeownership is a policy priority, there is no reason not to try the HouseMate program.

Determine the Food Access among Low-Income Households in Rural Area, Kedah, Malaysia

Objective - This study aims to determine the low-income group in rural areas to food access. This study also determines the main source of choice for this group to get food. Methodology - This study was conducted in Baling, Sik, and Padang Terap districts in Kedah. There is 200 respondent involved in this study. Findings - The results showed that 97.87% of low-income households in Baling, 82.36% in Sik, and 71.43% in Padang Terap had low food access status and were prone to food deserts areas. Low -income households in the area prefer grocery stores for food access over supermarkets. A large number of low-income households access food at the supermarket once a month causing geographical factors. Novelty - In conclusion, policymakers need to determine the measurement and assessment of food deserts in rural areas in Malaysia. Kedai Rakyat 1 Malaysia (KR1M) and the KedaiRuncit Transformation Program (TUKAR) can be re-implemented with the improvement of their implementation structure to improve food access in rural areas. Type of Paper - Empirical. Keywords: Food Access; Low-Income Households; Food Deserts; Rural Area; Kedah

Housing Expenditure and Income Inequality

The trend of rising income inequality in Germany since the mid-1990s is strongly amplified when considering income after housing expenditure. The income share of housing expenditure rose disproportionally for the bottom income quintile and fell for the top quintile. Factors contributing to these trends include declining relative costs of homeownership versus renting, changes in household structure, declining real incomes for low-income households, and residential mobility towards larger cities. Younger cohorts spend more on housing and save less than older cohorts did at the same age, which will affect future wealth accumulation, particularly at the bottom of the income distribution.

Affordability of Heathy, Equitable and More Sustainable Diets in Low-Income Households in Brisbane before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased food insecurity worldwide, yet there has been limited assessment of shifts in the cost and affordability of healthy, equitable and sustainable diets. This study explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and income supplements provided by the Australian government on diet cost and affordability for low-income households in an Australian urban area. The Healthy Diets ASAP method protocol was applied to assess the cost and cost differential of current and recommended diets before (in 2019) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (late 2020) for households with a minimum-wage and welfare-only disposable household income, by area of socioeconomic disadvantage, in Greater Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Data were collected between August and October, 2020, from 78 food outlets and compared with data collected in the same locations between May and October, 2019, in an earlier study. The price of most healthy food groups increased significantly during the pandemic—with the exception of vegetables and legumes, which decreased. Conversely, the price of discretionary foods and drinks did not increase during the pandemic. The cost of the current and recommended diets significantly increased throughout this period, but the latter continued to be less expensive than the former. Due to income supplements provided between May and September 2020, the affordability of the recommended diet improved greatly, by 27% and 42%, for households with minimum-wage and welfare-only disposable household income, respectively. This improvement in the affordability of the recommended diet highlights the need to permanently increase welfare support for low-income families to ensure food security.

The impact of financial incentives and restrictions on cyclical food expenditures among low-income households receiving nutrition assistance: a randomized controlled trial

Background The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest anti-hunger program in the United States. Two proposed interventions to encourage healthier food expenditures among SNAP participants have generated significant debate: financial incentives for fruits and vegetables, and restrictions on foods high in added sugar. To date, however, no study has assessed the impact of these interventions on the benefit cycle, a pattern of rapid depletion of SNAP benefits that has been linked to worsening nutrition and health outcomes over the benefit month. Methods Low-income households not currently enrolled in SNAP (n = 249) received benefits every 4 weeks for 12 weeks on a study-specific benefit card. Households were randomized to one of four study arms: 1) incentive (30% incentive for fruits and vegetables purchased with study benefits), 2) restriction (not allowed to buy sugar-sweetened beverages, sweet baked goods, or candy using study benefits), 3) incentive plus restriction, or 4) control (no incentive or restriction). Weekly household food expenditures were evaluated using generalized estimating equations. Results Compared to the control group, financial incentives increased fruit and vegetable purchases, but only in the first 2 weeks after benefit disbursement. Restrictions decreased expenditures on foods high in added sugar throughout the benefit month, but the magnitude of the impact decreased as the month progressed. Notably, restrictions mitigated cyclical expenditures. Conclusions Policies to improve nutrition outcomes among SNAP participants should consider including targeted interventions in the second half of the month to address the benefit cycle and attendant nutrition outcomes. Trial registration ClinicalTrial.gov, NCT02643576. Retrospectively registered December 22, 2014.

Inheritance, gifts and the accumulation of wealth for low-income households

Many low-income households in rich countries have very little wealth, but the role of intergenerational wealth transmission in underpinning this deficit is not known. This article seeks to fill that gap by investigating patterns of past wealth transfer receipt for low-income versus other households in seven rich countries and assessing the contribution that these transfers, or their absence, make to current wealth levels. We find that households on low incomes are relatively disadvantaged in terms of intergenerational transfers received in the past, both in terms of the likelihood of having received any and the amounts received by those who do benefit from such transfers. The role that this disadvantage plays in the linkage between current low-income and low wealth is assessed and evidence presented that it is significant. Simulation of a universal wealth transfer scheme or ‘capital endowment’ on reaching adulthood for two countries shows that such a policy could lead to a marked decline in the proportion of low-income adults with negative or no wealth. This and alternative or complementary policy responses to these wealth deficits merit the most serious attention.

The Benefits and Costs of Automotive Regulations for Low-Income Americans

Benefit-cost analyses of regulations address Kaldor-Hicks efficiency but rarely investigate the distribution of benefits and costs as experienced by low-income households. In order to fill this gap, this article assembles the available evidence to determine how regulations of the automobile industry may impact the well-being of low-income Americans. The scope of the investigation includes air pollution, safety and fuel-economy regulations. We find that performing benefit-cost analyses for low-income households is more challenging than commonly understood. Given the difficulties in completing distributional analysis with available information, the authors offer practical suggestions on how to change the federal data systems and the rulemaking process to ensure that information is collected about how future automobile regulations impact the well-being of the poor.