Americans are trapped in a ‘cycle of financial insecurity' (Keeping homeownership rates low, renters distressed)

``Home ownership rates are at an historic low, renters are burdened by rising rents and -- even though unemployment has fallen considerably in recent years -- the percentage of underemployed Americans is twice those who are unemployed, according to the "2016 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard" released Monday by the Corporation for Enterprise Development, a nonprofit group in Washington, D.C. focused on expanding opportunity for low-income households. ... Over half of renters spend more than 30% of their gross income on rent, the traditional measure of affordability, according to data released last year by Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies.... Among the other key highlights, home ownership rates are hovering at just under 64% in the final quarter of 2015, still near the lowest level in three decades. And while the national underemployment rate has fallen to 5% in December 2015, down from a recent high of 10% in October 2009, the underemployment rate was nearly 9.9% in December 2015, showing that people are still struggling to find full-time employment. ''