Recently in Housing Category

I grew up in a live/work home.  I've always had a productive home...because I'm self employed and have always either had a full time or part time business going.  And so has my husband.

"Over half of all businesses are run out of an owner's home. As the economic crisis deepens, live/work housing provides a viable and appealing solution for small entrepreneurs who want to work and live in the same place for economic reasons. It is also a promising market for Baby Boomers who are starting to retire - or soon will retire - and want to live in upscale housing in an urban area while conducting consulting and other service oriented businesses which can function in a live/work condo."  says Dick Lewis, President, Lewis & Associates

A Productive Home

Homes used to provide us with clothing, food, shelter, education, entertainment...and more.  But over the years we've exported most of those functions to businesses and public facilitie outside the home. 

And paid the price!  Both in "retail" prices...and in loss of a strong safety net.

Part of a green career is balancing what you build OUTSIDE the home in jobs and networks and investments -- and what you build INSIDE your home in hobbies and food preparation and car repair and gardening...etc. 

How's your personal career productivity going?  What would you like to balance between outside and inside?

Many small busiensses serve local needs...with local solutions.  But which solutions are most central to the heart of sustainable families and sustainable communities?  The Census Bureau has found that money isn't everything.  There are more tangible ways to measure standards of living and small businesses are in a great position to identify solutions that meet these basic human needs.

The living standards of U.S. households are traditionally measured by income.

This report takes a different approach.

Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)

It measures living standards in terms of extended measures of well-being of households tracked in the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to help deepen our knowledge about household conditions in ways not captured by money alone.

Some aspects of well-being, such as fear of crime or quality of local public services, may be only loosely connected with money. Other measures are more closely related to income but can also be effected by factors such as the cost of living, age, disability status, and sudden changes in circumstances.

Extended measures of well-being provide a more complete and detailed picture of household living conditions in the United States than income alone provides.

Well-being Metrics

The U.S. Census Bureau tracks extended measures of well-being in the SIPP.2.  The SIPP's "Extended Measures of Well-Being" topical module, on which this report is based, covers five broad domains:

(1) appliances and electronic goods, such as possession of refrigerators, landline and cellular telephones, and computers;

(2) housing conditions, including level of satisfaction with overall home repair, adequate living space, and sufficient privacy;

(3) neighborhood conditions and community services, such as: road conditions and the presence of abandoned buildings; satisfactory police, fire, and medical services; and attitudes towards local schools;

(4) meeting basic needs, including the ability to pay bills in full, to avoid eviction, and to have sufficient food; and

(5) the expectation of help, should need arise, from friends, family, and the community.

For this report, extended measures of well-being are used to describe living conditions in the United States for the time period 1992-2003.