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The pandemic has led to a surge in home improvements, as homebound HGTV fans have been inspired to spruce up their surroundings. In 2020, homeowners spent $271 billion on home improvements, according to a recent study from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.
With stimulus checks and tax refunds landing in your bank account, this may be the ideal time to get some projects done. But before you head for Home Depot or Lowe’s or contact a contractor consider which projects will deliver the largest return on your investment.
A good place to start is
Remodeling magazine’s 2020 Cost vs. Value Report. The report details the average cost of about two dozen home remodeling projects and the estimated value each project retains if the property is sold. Some of the least expensive projects deliver the biggest payoffs.
According to data from Harvard University, income growth has been widening income disparity since 2010. The average annual income of households in the bottom decile of earners increased just 5% from 2010 to 2019, or about $340. In contrast, the average income of households in the top decile soared by 20%, or about $52,000.
While income disparity has been on the rise in the United States for the past decade, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated disparities in employment and household income across the country. This means that some of your members are purchasing new homes and doing relatively well-off financially, while others are facing financial crises, dealing with unemployment, and struggling to make ends meet.
April 13, 2021
Felician Sister Maria Louise Edwards visits a homeless man in Pomona, Calif., March 4, 2019. (CNS photo/ Elliott Cramer, courtesy Felician Sisters)
As the pandemic provoked shutdowns across the United States in March 2020, Jason s stress level began to climb.
He had to handle cash as an essential employee selling car parts at an AutoZone in McKinney, Texas, a state with no mask mandate. His precarious health asthma, sarcoidosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, allergies put him at a higher risk of serious illness should he contract COVID-19.
As his hours dwindled at work, Jason s ability to pay his bills began to depend on the opportunity to mow someone s grass for quick cash or sell whatever he could find that was sitting in his garage: the tools he still needed, or the motorcycle, which was worth twice what he sold it for. Then last June 8 he lost his job.
Apr. 13, 2021 Catholic News Service As the pandemic provoked shutdowns across the United States in March 2020, Jason s stress level began to climb. He had to handle cash as an essential employee selling car parts at an AutoZone in McKinney, Texas, a state with no mask mandate. His precarious health asthma, sarcoidosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, allergies put him at a higher risk of serious illness should he contract COVID-19. As his hours dwindled at work, Jason s ability to pay his bills began to depend on the opportunity to mow someone s grass for quick cash or sell whatever he could find that was sitting in his garage: the tools he still needed, or the motorcycle, which was worth twice what he sold it for. Then last June 8 he lost his job.