Paying the landlord

Buying a house isn’t cheap, which helps explain why more Americans are renting now than at any point in more than 50 years, according to the Pew Research Center, which analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data. Though the total number of households increased by 7.6 million from 2006 to 2016, the percentage of those renting grew significantly over the same time span, from 31.6 percent of households to 36.6 percent—the highest rate since 1965, when 37 percent of households were rentals. When asked why they don’t own homes, the majority of renters cited financial reasons.