INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana University Public Policy Institute is releasing two in a series of reports designed to help Hoosier voters understand key issues for the state in the upcoming elections. As part of its Decision 2024: Your Voices, Your Future project, PPI collaborated with organizations around Indiana and faculty across Indiana University to develop reports on policy topics. The resulting seven reports provide important context and background on critical issues.
The first report, authored by Prosperity Indiana, explores housing in Indiana and provides policy recommendations for improving housing security by addressing housing availability, state housing laws, housing instability, and homelessness.
- Indiana has a deficit of nearly 140,000 affordable and available rental homes. There are 34 units available for every 100 of the lowest-income households—the second-lowest rate in the Midwest.
- More than 90% of Hoosier households with yearly incomes of more than $150,000 are homeowners, while less than 40% of Hoosier households earning less than $20,000 annually own their homes.
- Hoosiers working full time would need to earn, on average, $22.07/hour to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment, up $3.07 from 2023. But, in Indiana, the average renter makes only $17.92/hour, which increased just six cents from 2023.
The second report, coauthored by IU faculty and Early Learning Indiana, focuses on the importance and impact of high-quality early childcare and education, providing ways the state could address systemic barriers to access, affordability, and program quality to help Hoosier children reach their full potential.
- A lack of access to affordable early child education and care limits children’s future employment and education opportunities. Those barriers have short-term impacts on businesses and communities.
- In Indiana, there are enough providers to serve about 60% of small children who need care. Only half of those providers are categorized as high quality.
- Providers struggle with staffing shortages, complex operations requirements, and market realities.
The remaining five reports will be released throughout October and focus on workforce development, the Innovation Economy, community resiliency to weather, healthcare, and lack of trust in institutions. The reports served as the base for PPI’s 2024 Gubernatorial Forum, featuring interviews with Jennifer McCormick (D), Sen. Mike Braun (R), and Donald Rainwater (L). The forum is available online via go.iu.edu/forum2024playlist.
