We’re once again taking the Marketplace “Economic Pulse,” views on the economy from a range of perspectives. This time it’s another check-in on housing, but specifically the affordability issue for those living in rural parts of the U.S., which were hit especially hard by the subprime mortgage crisis and Great Recession.
Journalist Michelle Polizzi wrote about this for the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, drawing from her personal experience: “Will Cuts in Rural Programs Leave the Same Lasting Wounds as the 2008 Financial Crisis?”
She’s also written a memoir about her experiences with housing insecurity in rural America, “Model Home.
She spoke with “Marketplace Morning Report” host David Brancaccio about her reporting. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.
David Brancaccio: Out in the country, rural areas, what are you seeing right now in terms of economic security and insecurity?
Michelle Polizzi: Recent cuts to programs like SNAP and Medicaid really make it harder for rural Americans to get by day to day. So I think there’s a lot of uncertainty about what’s to come, with people worried about, are they now going to have to pay for a life-saving medication out of pocket? Do they have a large family and their grocery bill is going to be a lot higher? This leaves less money each month to pay for other things — important things, like rent and mortgages. So although SNAP and Medicaid are not housing-specific policies, I believe their cuts really exacerbate rural housing securities in more hidden ways.
Brancaccio: So a connection between a safety net program to give people medical care and what happens with their ability to put a roof over their heads?
Polizzi: Yes, exactly. And there were some proposed changes in the 2026 budget also that threatened housing directly. So programs that provide loans to low-income people, like the Section 502 lending program, which is administered by the USDA to promote economic prosperity in rural areas. This is one of the oldest low-income housing programs in the United States, and it’s helped more than 2 million rural people become homeowners. For the majority of those families, Section 502 was their only available path to homeownership. The Senate has rejected the majority of these cuts in their budget revision, but, ultimately, Congress will decide when the budget is finalized by Oct. 1.
Brancaccio: Is what you’re talking about, about stress in rural America, something that is projected? It’s policy experts worrying about people are going to start feeling this? Or are you talking to people who are worried about it currently?
Polizzi: I think both. I think speaking from personal experience, you know, my family lost their home to foreclosure in 2009 during the Great Recession in upstate New York. And, essentially, we were already struggling, as many rural people were during that time, but things really took a turn when my parents were lent a predatory second mortgage that they couldn’t afford to pay back. So then that loan went into default, and we lost our home, and I was just a senior in high school at the time.
Brancaccio: What did your parents do?
Polizzi: Well, I can say without a doubt that our foreclosure changed our lives forever. The loss really shifted our family unit. My parents got divorced. It thrust each one of us into poverty. When I try to answer the question, “What did they do?” It’s like, well, everything kind of fell apart. We became one of the 10 million families who lost their homes during that period. So I think there’s a lot of people who are still reeling from that economic uncertainty. Maybe people’s credit scores were completely wiped during that time. They had to declare bankruptcy. So I think a lot of rural people are really worried. “OK, I went through this already, and what if that happens again?” or “What if this happens to my loved ones or my neighbors?” and so on.
