Dive Brief:

• Americans feel more worried than hopeful about the country's future and believe the country is still in the throes of the housing crisis, according to a survey of housing attitudes by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

• Calling the third annual How Housing Matters survey of 1,401 adults “a wake-up call,” MacArthur President Julia Stasch blamed much of the sentiment on the lack of “decent housing at an affordable price.”

• In order to afford their rent or mortgage, the study said, more than half of the respondents reported having to work more hours, stop saving for retirement, charge it on credit cards or buy less-expensive — and sometimes less nutritious — food. Hispanic and black minorities, millennials and those living in cities reported making the greatest tradeoffs between rent and other necessities.

Dive Insight:

The study’s silver lining: 56% of adults said they believe homeownership is a good long-term investment than those who disagreed. That’s a more optimistic response than participants gave in 2013, when 57% said buying a home was becoming less appealing.

Approximately seven in 10 non-homeowners said they want to buy a home. An even greater proportion of millennials and black Americans ranks homeownership as a high priority, the survey revealed.