Disadvantaged Americans have long faced a growing crisis of a lack of affordable housing. Two recent reports document how this crisis—affecting one out of seven Americans—has affected moderate-income families and threatened the economic viability of urban regions, even in booming California.

In Housing America's Working Families, Michael A. Stegman, Roberto G. Quercia, and George McCarthy analyze the national impact of the crisis on working families. The authors argue that for the past 20 years federal housing policy has associated the housing problems of American families with issues of poverty and welfare, ignoring the moderate-income families who also have difficulty finding affordable housing.

Locked Out! California's Affordable Housing Crisis examines the lack of affordable housing in the booming economic climate of the nation's largest state. Researchers for the California Budget Project find that California's thriving economy actually is exacerbating the housing crisis for more and more of its low- and middle-income residents.