America’s Affordability Crisis Is a Democracy Crisis

Affordability dominates the national conversation because it dominates people’s lives. Ninety-five percent of Americans say the country is facing an affordability crisis, yet two-thirds don’t believe the federal government will successfully address it.

This is more than an economic problem – it’s a crisis for democracy.

Americans’ waning trust in institutions is understandable. Vast sums are spent on programs intended to expand opportunity, campaign promises on affordability are made, and economic programs are unveiled with fanfare. Yet too many working Americans still cannot afford a home, pay for childcare, build savings, or believe in a more secure future for their families. Only 44% of American households with two full-time workers and two children earn enough to afford basics.

American workers’ stagnation has fed disengagement from civic life at an alarming level, endangering our democracy.

At the root of this problem is a wonky but significant issue: our institutions too often measure what they have funded or delivered instead of being transparent about whether their efforts are actually improving people’s lives. As a nation, we track GDP growth and stock-market performance, and while those measures are useful, they don’t tell us whether a full-time worker can afford the basics.

To truly rebuild trust in our country, philanthropy, government, and nonprofits must shift their approach and ask a simple question that lies at the heart of our democracy: Are enough working Americans thriving? If they can commit to being transparent about the answer, it can begin to rebuild Americans’ broken trust in our democracy.

This transparency can kick-start an “Outcomes Movement”—one that begins with communities, not distant bureaucrats or ideological tribes, identifying, working in tandem toward, and measuring what matters progress in the open. When people can see what their community is trying to achieve, where it is starting, and whether it is moving forward, they have a stronger basis for participation, debate, and trust.

Once a community has identified a shared outcome, it can debate openly — and even vigorously — how best to achieve it. But it should not lose sight of the destination. The targets should be specific: A community might commit to moving 500 families from paying 48 percent of their income on housing to paying less than 30 percent within three years. It might aim to ensure 75 percent of fourth-graders read proficiently, or to reduce the percentage of families spending more than 10 percent of income on childcare from 84 percent to 50 percent.

This is how successful businesses operate. It's what the military does. We must apply this same metrics-based discipline to ensuring working Americans thrive.

An Outcomes Movement tracks measurable areas where Americans struggle: the percentage of people earning a living wage, paying no more than 30 percent of income on housing, accessing affordable childcare, maintaining emergency savings, achieving mental wellbeing, and so on. Progress should be transparent, such as through publicly available dashboards that hold communities and institutions accountable and inform honest debate about solutions.

An Outcomes Movement is already taking shape in a handful of innovative communities. The Finding Common Purpose Foundation has surveyed local efforts to focus on outcomes that matter to community members’ lives, and the initiatives are inspiring: In Kent County, Michigan, a network of local groups has aligned around a set of outcomes ranging from kindergarten readiness to a ‘thriving family income,’ and they’re tracking progress on a publicly-available dashboard that increases accountability. In Vermont, a two-year community engagement project led to an economic plan to address challenges such as the state’s aging workforce and rising cost of living; now, a public dashboard tracks progress toward the plan’s goals, such as increasing the number of housing units in the state to 350,000 by 2035.

These communities have not solved every problem, and they still face challenges. But they are demonstrating an alternative to disengagement: bringing people representing different ideologies, roles and interests together around a shared aim: making it possible for more people in their community to thrive.

We have the data, technology, and local capacity to expand this approach. What we need now is the collective will – and leadership from government, philanthropy and civic institutions – to insist that more Americans thriving, not just surviving, should be the standard by which we judge national success.

Americans’ faith in democracy will not be restored through campaign rhetoric and vague plans around affordability. It will be earned when people can help define what progress means, see clearly whether institutions are keeping their commitments, and feel tangible improvements in their lives — and more security in their futures.

Andrew Wolk is the founder of Finding Common Purpose and the author of the pamphlet Common Purpose.