Housing insecurity

Erik Henningsen's painting Eviction held by the National Gallery of Denmark.1892

Housing insecurity is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and affordable housing. without being entirely homeless.[1][2] Housing insecurity is associated with worse health outcomes and can be alleviated by increasing the housing supply, for example loosening zoning regulations.[3]

Definition

Housing insecurity is defined as a precariousness regarding one's housing conditions, often including some or all of the following:[1]: 345 [2]: 2 

• difficulty acquiring and keeping housing tenure;
• being required to spend a high percentage of income on housing costs;
• living in housing that is unsafe, unsanitary, or lacking in basic necessities;
• living in housing that is overcrowed or overcapcity;
• living with a domestic abuser, such as an abusive partner, parent, or guardian; and
• being at risk of involuntary relocation, or being forced to relocate multiple times.

Background

High rent cost burden

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development uses the terms "cost burdened" and "severely cost burdened" to describe individuals or families that spend more than 30% and 50% of their income on housing costs, respectively.[4] According to the 2020 U.S. census, 46% of American renters are cost burdened, with 23% severely cost burdened.[5]

one out of five in the United States who earn less than $25,000 per year have fallen behind on rent.[1]: 346 

Evidence from multiple fields of harmful effects from housing affordability constraints on parents’ mental health, children's cognitive functioning, and on child misbehaviour.[1]: 346 

Low-quality and unsafe housing

Landlords may also fail housing quality standards inspections by neglecting to repair and maintain their property as required.[1]: 347 

An estimated 15% of rental units in the United States (over five million) have significant quality and safety issues (such as crumbling walls and vermin infestation) or lacked residential essentials, like heating equipment or running water.[1]: 348  Consistent exposure to unsafe housing (e.g dampness, poor ventilation, and unhygenic conditions) can lead to an increase in mold and other allergens that develop and aggravate respiratory diseases like asthma, the most common chronic health problem among children[1]: 348  Broader hazard issues such as fire-risks and unsafe structures, can lead to fires or collapses causing injuries, and render a housing unit uninhabitable or condemned.[1]: 348 

Despite lead paint having been banned in the United States in the 1970s, lead paint is still present in some houses and how its a particularly prevelent issue in low-income, majority-minority neighborhoods, still contain lead paint.[1]: 347  This is despite the increased risk of lead poisoning, which has negative effects on children's cognitive development and executive function.[1]: 347 

Over-crowded housing can affect sleep, privacy, and adequate study space, as well as increasing risk of infection[1]: 348 

Discrimination

Part of this section is an excerpt from Housing discrimination.[edit]

Housing discrimination refers to patterns of discrimination that affect a person's ability to rent or buy housing. This disparate treatment of a person on the housing market can be based on group characteristics or on the place where a person lives.[6]

The most straightforward form of housing discrimination involves a landlord who rejects offers from potential tenants based on factors such as race, age, gender, marital status, source of funding,[7] and others. The landlord may perform the discrimination explicitly or implicitly. Housing discrimination can also occur among existing tenants, who may face detrimental treatment in comparison to others for the same reasons. Housing discrimination can lead to spatial inequality and racial segregation, which, in turn, can exacerbate wealth disparities between certain groups.

By financial credit

See also: Source of income discrimination

In the United States it's common for landlords to discriminate according to potential renters by their credit score. People with poor or no credit are much more likely to get rejected when applying for a property.[1]: 347 Landlords who don't discriminate based on credit score often rent out poorer quality houses.[1]: 347 This issue is compounded by other forms of discrimination as marginalised people are more likely to suffer low credit.[1]: 347 Additionally eviction can lead to a lower credit rating, thus risking a negative feedback loop.[1]: 347 

Covid-19 pandemic

See also: Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

In the United Kingdom, the COVID-19 pandemic exaserbated housing insecurity due to increased finanical pressures due to employment precarity, reduction in informal accommodation due to isolation, and increased overcrowding issues.[2]: 3  During the pandemic, there was a tempoary ban on bailiff-enforced evictions, while housing rights organisations lobbied for more prolonged efforts in helping people with overdue rent.[2]: 3  The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), warned of two-tier economic recovery from pandemic in which renters would be more at risk of long-term housing insecurity compared to homeowners. JRF also found that ethnic minorities, and low-income, and households with children have been most affected by pandemic debt and rent arrears.[2]: 3 

In the United States, the country's Federal government, as well as some US States enacted tempoary bans on eviction during the pandemic.

Domestic abuse

Victims of domestic abuse are at an increased risk of housing insecurity.[8][9] Likewise, those who have attempted to flee abuse situations are at increased risk of having to return to an abusive household due to housing insecurity.[8][9]

In England during 2022, over ten-thousand women fleeing abusive relationships were refused safe housing provisions.[9][10]

See also

• Housing crisis
• Homelessness
• Food insecurity
• Cost-of-living crisis

References

1. DeLuca, Stefanie; Rosen, Eva (2022). "Housing Insecurity Among the Poor Today". Annual Review of Sociology. 48 (1): 343–371. doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-090921-040646. ISSN 0360-0572.
2. Hock, Emma S.; Blank, Lindsay; Fairbrother, Hannah; Clowes, Mark; Cuevas, Diana Castelblanco; Booth, Andrew; Clair, Amy; Goyder, Elizabeth (9 September 2024). "Exploring the impact of housing insecurity on the health and wellbeing of children and young people in the United Kingdom: a qualitative systematic review". BMC Public Health. 24 (1): 2453. doi:10.1186/s12889-024-19735-9. ISSN 1471-2458. PMC 11385840. PMID 39251944.
3. Nolon, John R. (2021–2022). "Pandemics and Housing Insecurity: A Blueprint for Land Use Law Reform". Vermont Law Review. 46: 422.
4. Larrimore, Jeff; Schuetz, Jenny (22 December 2017). "Assessing the Severity of Rent Burden on Low-Income Families". FEDS Notes. 2017.0 (2111). Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. doi:10.17016/2380-7172.2111. Archived from the original on 4 January 2024.
5. Schaeffer, Katherine (23 March 2022). "Key facts about housing affordability in the U.S." Pew Research Center. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
6. Caves, R. W. (2004). Encyclopedia of the City. Routledge. p. 351.
7. "A pervasive form of housing discrimination that's still legal". Washington Post. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
8. Ludermir, Raquel (February 2024). "Housing and Patrimonial (Property) Violence against Women: The Reproduction of Gender Asset Inequalities in Brazil". Journal of Latin American Studies. 56 (1): 63–90. doi:10.1017/S0022216X23000962. ISSN 0022-216X.
9. Jayanetti, Chaminda; Savage, Michael (15 April 2023). "Safe housing denied to 10,000 women in England fleeing domestic abuse". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
10. "Homes at the heart of effective domestic abuse legislation". Chartered Institute of Housing. Retrieved 8 January 2025.

Further reading

• Li, A; Baker, E; Bentley, R (2022). "Understanding the mental health effects of instability in the private rental sector: A longitudinal analysis of a national cohort". Social Science & Medicine. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114778.
• Ludermir, Raquel (February 2024). "Housing and Patrimonial (Property) Violence against Women: The Reproduction of Gender Asset Inequalities in Brazil". Journal of Latin American Studies. 56 (1): 63–90. doi:10.1017/S0022216X23000962. ISSN 0022-216X.