According to Maxwell Drever The name ‘workforce housing’ is given to those housing schemes that cater to families at the income level of 60% to about 120% of the overall area’s median income. These families are considered to earn too much to qualify for other more traditional low-income affordable housing solutions .
Workforce housing could mean any type of housing, whether owning a home or even rental properties. These schemes are generally planned to give working families affordable homes while still being near their workplaces Maxwell Drever, the Founder and Chairman of DCM says. It allows these working, median income families to save more of their income to better their quality of life instead of spending more on rent and other housing solutions.
Impact of Workforce Housing on Families
Workforce housing has impacted families in communities in many ways. There are many advantages of planning out and implementing these housing solutions to give more families a better place to live in.
Lower Commute Times = Better Health
The first and biggest impact workforce housing has had on families is it cuts down commute times by a lot. Reduced commuting times have been shown to improve the overall health of working people. Long commutes and being stuck in traffic are known to cause high amounts of stress in people. Research has also linked long commutes to adverse effects on a person’s heart health. Improved health and reduced commute times have also led to better performance in the workplace.
Quality of Life Improvements
Families living in workforce housing also have a better quality of life. Lower commute times, decreased traffic, and a sense of community have significantly improved a family’s quality of life. It also increases the involvement of workers in the community, making it more inclusive, safer, and just overall better as a whole when people live like a community close to each other.
Workforce housing has also been shown to improve the educational programs in these communities. Well-planned workforce housing should always include educational facilities nearby. Teachers and students both experience lower commute times leading to better quality education. Workforce housing can be used as a base for after-school activities and other communal activities and developments.
Essential workers like police, paramedics, and other critical community workers can live in the same community they work in. This improves the overall safety and living standard of these communities. It allows these workers to be close by in case of emergencies. All of this makes families feel safer in these workforce housing communities.
Economic Impact
Workforce housing improves the economy of these areas and communities, which impacts the families of people living in these areas directly. Cities benefit from having more median-income families as property taxes are usually the largest source of revenue for their local municipalities or governments. Attracting more middle-income working families into a jurisdiction helps in a broader collection of taxes that can significantly improve these people’s living standards if used correctly.
Median-income families also help improve consumer spending. The more families residing in an area, the more they spend on local products and goods. Local businesses like grocery stores, cafes, and restaurants benefit more from median income families than wealthy high-income families as they are more likely to spend on local businesses instead of purchasing outsourced or’ name brand’ products.
Maxwell Drever offers housing plans for families who meet the average median income requirements to apply for workforce housing. Visit the Maxwell Drever website to learn more.
