Yung Chun, research assistant professor of the Social Policy Institute and Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, received a $350,000 research award from Habitat for Humanity International to evaluate homeownership programs implemented by local Habitat affiliates and investigate the impact on wealth building for households with low incomes. Through this project, the Social […]
Category: Housing
U.S. Census Data Shows Child Tax Credit Promotes Work, Entrepreneurship (Links to an external site)
Yahoo references an SPI study whose findings show that the CTC has enabled low-income families to work.
‘A manic moment’ for renters as Supreme Court ends eviction moratorium (Links to an external site)
Yung Chun, data analyst III at SPI, discussed the implications of the end of the eviction moratorium and the impact on renters with a reporter from the Sinclair Broadcast Group.
Food assistance (SNAP) recipients were disproportionately forced out by landlords during the pandemic
Previous analysis of the Social Policy Institute’s Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 Survey found that Temporary Aid for Needy Families (TANF) recipients were evicted at higher rates than households not getting TANF, and new analysis finds similar trends for households receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds.
Cash assistance (TANF) recipients suffer the brunt of evictions despite the moratorium
New evidence from the Social Policy Institute’s multi-wave Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 Survey shows that during the pandemic, TANF recipients were evicted at significantly higher rates than non-recipients, even when accounting for differences in demographics, income, assets, recent job loss, and how many months behind they are in rental payments.
Housing inequality gets worse as the COVID-19 pandemic is prolonged (Links to an external site)
Housing mobility programs are an important piece of equitable community development (Links to an external site)
Despite its name, the Housing Choice Voucher (or Section 8) program does not always offer families much choice in where to live. Jenna Hampton, SPI practicum student, calls to expand the choices available to families who want the best for themselves and their children in an editorial with Community Builders Network in St. Louis.
Experts Warn of Potential Housing Crisis When Eviction Moratorium Lifted (Links to an external site)
In an interview with NBC 6, Michal Grinstein-Weiss discussed the housing crisis and looming evictions. She said, “We are already in a housing crisis in the U.S. and we were in one long before, and housing is really central for our people to recover from COVID-19.”
Pandemic boosts urgency of housing instability (Links to an external site)
The Columbian features SPI data in a story about housing hardship. “Nationally, a survey of low- to moderate-income households, conducted by the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis, found that individuals are facing increased hardships such as evictions, delayed rent or mortgage payments, or unexpected utility payments and home repairs during the pandemic.”
It’s about to get a lot worse (Links to an external site)
SPI faculty director, Mat Despard, was interviewed in this Axios story about evictions: “We should be very concerned about what’s going to happen in August and beyond.”
Housing Hardships Reach Unprecedented Heights during the COVID-19 Pandemic
SPI research, published on Brookings Institution: Groundbreaking data from a new large-scale, nationally-representative survey of low- and moderate-income (LMI) households administered by the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis in April of 2020 suggests that individuals have been facing increased housing hardship such as evictions, delayed rent or mortgage payments, and unexpected utility payments and home repairs during the pandemic.
Financial Well-being: Measuring Financial Perceptions and Experiences in Low- and Moderate- Income Households (Links to an external site)
Abstract As the gig economy plays an increasingly important role in the labor market, there is a need to understand the economic factors that influence participation in this sector. In this paper, we investigate how saving the federal tax refund affects gig economy participation for low-income online tax filers in the six months following tax […]