In 2015, the United States had about 19 million very low-income renters, but only twenty-five percent of those households received housing assistance. In addition, forty-three percent of these low-income renters face “worst case needs,” meaning paying more than half their incomes for housing and living in severely inadequate units. This reality has several consequences for low-income Americans. First, many families cannot afford to house and therefore remain homeless. Second, even if a family can find housing, it may be substandard. One study found that housing was often deficient.