Couch Surfing: Poverty, Housing, Voting in Ward 6

Many families in Ward 6 and across the United States have adult family members (children, distant cousins, uncles, etc) and adult non-family members (friends of relatives, children of friends, etc.) living with them on sofas, in basements, in spare rooms. These "boarders" rely on the kindness of others, so they may live there for a few days moving among locations or may live there for a few years. These boarders probably don't have a permanent address.

Many people don't have official IDs because they don't have a permanent address. In states with new laws requiring official IDs or even utility bills or other forms of address-based identification, these people will not be able to vote. However, when I tested out DC's online voter registration, I saw that you need to report an address where you live. So, it seems that, if you don't have a permanent address, you likely can't vote in any case.

Why can't these people get a permanent address? Often, it is because of economic adversity. Currently, in 2012, the federal poverty level for a family of three is $19,090. In Ward 6, 18% of residents live in poverty. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the DC Metropolitan area, a family can essentially be living in poverty if, for example, one person works full-time as a Barber/Salon Shampooer ($19,390) or as a Fast-Food Cook ($19,660). If you are a full-time fast-food cook in Ward 6, you could afford to spend $491/month on rent, 30% of your monthly income. (I admit that I don't understand the tax situation with an income like that, so I am just going with the income given).

What can you get for $491/month? I looked through Craigslist and found no apartments in that range, so I turned to renting rooms. Here is what I found in the first 100 listed:

$435 / 150ft² - You Can't Beat This Deal - (Congress Heights)
$425 Master bedroom w/private bath - (Stafford - Rte. 610)
$350 RENTO CUARTOS - (GERMANTOWN)
$495 room in nice single family home for rent - (Bowie/Glenn Dale/Washington, DC)

If you have two kids, it would likely be impossible for you to rent one of these rooms. Also, several of these rooms would be very far from your job as a fast-food cook in Ward 6. So, you might then try couch surfing or rooming with family or friends.

I decided to look at the census data to investigate how many people might be choosing this strategy. Here is the American Community Survey data from 2005 to 2009 for four census tracts in Ward 6. Census tract 67 is the most wealthy census tract in Ward 6, while census tract 71 has the lowest income. Census tract 64 is in SW, and census tract 85 is just north of H St NE. As an aside, it is interesting how we have more women living alone than men living alone (see the italics below). It is difficult to determine precisely how many people are couch surfing. I put some rows in bold to highlight categories, which might be picking up these adult-relative/friend boarders. The roomer/housemate categories are likely including both more conventional renters and adult-relative/friend boarders. The "Other Relatives" category is surprising large (with the asterisk).

Household Type by Relationship in four census tracts in Ward 6

	Cen. 64	Cen. 67	Cen. 71	Cen. 85
Total residents:	2,051	4,226	3,088	3,295
-In households:	2,051	4,107	3,088	3,295
--In family households:	1,563	2,711	2,609	2,173
----Householder	578	871	722	636
----Spouse	90	681	173	288
----Child	622	802	1169	671
----Grandchild	76	71	380	170
----Brother/sister	92	11	19	61
----Parent	41	0	18	67
----Other relatives*	20	150	90	260
----Nonrelatives	44	125	38	20
------Roomer/boarder	0	70	11	0
------House/roommate	0	22	27	7
------Unmarried partner	44	0	0	13
------Foster child	0	0	0	0
------Other nonrelatives	0	33	0	0
--In nonfamily households:	488	1,396	479	1,122
----Householder:	466	928	408	719
------Male living alone	171	391	170	158
------Male not living alone	13	120	17	86
------Female living alone	275	267	198	357
------Female not living alone	7	150	23	118
----Nonrelatives:	22	468	71	403
------Roomer/boarder	0	71	0	132
------House/roommate	0	255	51	102
------Unmarried partner	22	130	20	136
------Foster child	0	0	0	0
------Other nonrelatives	0	12	0	33
-In group quarters	0	119	0	0

The working class in the United States has long had a tradition of such adult-relative/friend boarders, while the middle class has turned away from such practices. With economic crises, these adult-relative/friend boarders arrangements become increasingly necessary for survival. We should make certain that our neighbors are not being further harmed by not being able to vote because they don't have a permanent address.