California is facing the worst housing crisis in its history and the effects are being felt in the San Joaquin Valley, where residents earning local wages are being priced out of communities in which their families have lived for generations. The National Low-Income Housing Coalition says the hourly wage needed to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Stanislaus County is $18.04 per hour, but area renters average only $13.64 per hour in pay. Families are having to double up or live in substandard housing due to high housing costs, which affects the health, education and well-being of children and workers. Homelessness is on the rise.
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