•Press Release COVID-19 Economic Crisis and Recovery Housing
Washington DC — The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) released today a new report documenting housing and food insecurity during the pandemic with the latest data through December 2020.
Housing Insecurity by Race and Place During the Pandemic, by Julie Yixia Cai, Shawn Fremstad, and Simran Kalkat, expands on an earlier analysis of housing insecurity during the early months of the pandemic, from late April through July 2020. This report includes additional details on housing and food insecurity in states and in 15 major metropolitan areas.
The period covered in this new analysis includes the implementation of the CARES Act and the first broadly applicable national moratorium on evictions for nonpayment of rent. Yet, housing insecurity remained very high during this period. While the relief efforts were essential, it is important to remember that housing insecurity was a major problem before the pandemic.
“Today, most low-income renters and homeowners spend more than half of their income on housing,” noted co-author and economist Cai. “Large-scale, permanent solutions are needed to address these longstanding problems.”
Among the report’s key findings:
CEPR will continue to document trends in housing insecurity after the most recent relief measures are fully implemented.
