and affordable places to live are becoming even more Out Of Reach for millions of low-wage workers and their families according to a new National report out today New Jersey is the seventh most expensive location in the U.S for renters a household would need to earn almost seventy thousand dollars a year to afford an average two-bedroom apartment in the state as Melissa Rose Cooper reports Advocates are hammering lawmakers to find a solution to the affordable home shortage we want New Jersey's elected officials and our governor to do everything in their power to help House New Jersey a message Stacy Berger president and CEO of the Housing and Community Development network of New Jersey is making known during its annual legislative Day event highlighting the state's housing crisis a new report finds New Jersey renters need to make more than 33 dollars an hour to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment it means that a lot of people cannot afford to live here which is bad for those families and those communities because it drains the resources Vitality inspiration entrepreneurship from our communities it also means that people are living in unsafe potentially unsanitary conditions where folks are doubling or tripling up or they are experiencing lead or mold or you know Vermin in their apartments and they can't do anything about it because their rent is below that very high cost and they need to stay there because that's all they can afford so they are subjecting themselves and their families to difficult circumstances that nobody should have to live in it's an issue avid could say is only getting worse we find nearly every year housing costs are Out Of Reach For People particularly people living on the lowest incomes or making minimum wage um and we find that there's no State there's no County there's no major metropolitan area where a minimum wage worker can afford to live there working 40 hours a week according to the latest Out Of Reach report from the national low-income housing Coalition New Jersey ranks the seventh most expensive location in the U.S for renters Hudson County tops the list with the average two-bedroom rental at two thousand eighty eight dollars a month residents making the minimum wage of 14.13 cents an hour would have to work 95 hours a week or at least two full-time jobs to afford a two-bedroom apartment this crisis has been brewing for years the pandemic really brought the issue to light for many people who were immediately facing housing instability when they lost their jobs or were sent home or had no home to be sent to so I think it's more in people's Consciousness I believe that housing is not just a quality of life but it is a right for each and every individual Janiece rofford afalo lives in Newark and has been a longtime supporter of renters rights she says while there are efforts in her City to turn properties into affordable housing what's considered affordable isn't the same for everyone because someone in the city of Newark with the income of 35 to 45 thousand dollars and if the Ami is 60 percent they're still putting most of their salary towards rent so it is still a concern often those households don't have an emergency savings plan they have one medical bill or a broken down car that can lead to them not being able to afford their rent and face an eviction and in worse cases be pushed into homelessness and until there's more affordable housing that's in the reach of residents making the lowest incomes Advocates are calling on lawmakers to implement more resources like a permanent emergency assistance program to make sure all residents can keep a roof over their head for NJ Spotlight news I'm Melissa Rose Cooper support for the business report provided by Newark Alliance presenting the brown Mill anniversary block party and Halsey Fest an outdoor Festival on June 24th in downtown Newark online at halseyfest.com [Music]