Introduction to Net Benefit Analysis: A New Way of Designing Workforce Housing

In this video we show how Tartan Residential and Multifamily Building Systems utilized Net Benefit Analysis to design and engineer a new family of garden apartment buildings serving the affordable and workforce housing market.

Parking requirements and foundations are driving up the cost of multifamily housing

“In this article, we explore strategies to improve the efficiency of constructing apartment buildings through cost savings in site preparation, substructure work, and parking. This is the third piece in a series on how innovations in design and construction can reduce the costs of multifamily housing. Prior articles discussed cost categories for different building typologies and proposed strategies to save money on land and soft costs.”

https://www.brookings.edu/research/parking-requirements-and-foundations-are-driving-up-the-cost-of-multifamily-housing/

Flexible zoning and streamlined procedures can make housing more affordable

“This article is the second in a series examining how innovations in design and construction can bring down the cost of building apartments. The first article discussed how costs vary across different multifamily typologies. In this piece, we address potential cost savings in two categories: land costs and soft costs.”

https://www.brookings.edu/research/flexible-zoning-and-streamlined-procedures-can-make-housing-more-affordable/

Making apartments more affordable starts with understanding the costs of building them

“This piece is the first in a series that explores how improved design and construction decisions could reduce the cost of building multifamily housing. Our goal is to lay out what developers, architects, and contractors can do to improve affordability, independent of larger changes in land use policy or housing finance. We also note areas where design and construction interact with the policy and finance environment, and which would benefit from broader changes.”

https://www.brookings.edu/research/making-apartments-more-affordable-starts-with-understanding-the-costs-of-building-them/

The Young-Parent Balancing Act

“For young parents in work and school, more time spent in both activities can mean higher earnings in future years. Urban research shows that each 1 percent increase in parents’ time spent combining work and education is associated with a $451 bump in annual family income at age 30 (although there are other factors at play).”

https://www.urban.org/features/young-parent-balancing-act

Single Mothers Are Surging Into the Work Force

“Single mothers in the United States can face many barriers to employment, like finding affordable child care and predictable work schedules. For many, a sick child or a flat tire can mean a lost job.

Yet since 2015, something surprising has happened: The share of young single mothers in the work force has climbed about four percentage points, driven by those without college degrees, according to a New York Times analysis of Current Population Survey data. It’s a striking rise even compared with other groups of women who have increased their labor force participation during this period of very low unemployment.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/29/upshot/single-mothers-surge-employment.html?smid=em-share


The Child Care Crisis Is Keeping Women Out of the Workforce

“There is a growing awareness of the links among access to child care, parental employment, and overall economic growth. Businesses rely on employees, and employees rely on child care. When problems with child care arise, parents must scramble to find alternative options—or miss work to care for their children. For millions of parents, that insecurity can mean working fewer hours, taking a pay cut, or leaving their jobs altogether.”

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/early-childhood/reports/2019/03/28/467488/child-care-crisis-keeping-women-workforce/