No matter what you care about, if you care about high health costs, racial inequality, children’s fitness, fiscal responsibility, whatever your issue is, the lack of affordable housing sits at the root of that issue, without stable housing everything else falls apart.
The consequences of eviction and housing instability go beyond just the renter.
Housing
The implications that eviction has on housing seem obvious, but even after an eviction occurs, there is evidence of long-term housing problems befalling tenants. Often, tenants relocate to housing with sub-standard living conditions in less convenient, less desirable neighborhoods. In addition, finding housing after an eviction can be difficult as having an eviction on one’s record can deter future landlords from accepting the tenant.
- Housing, Poverty, and the Law
- Eviction’s Fallout: Housing, Hardship, and Health
- Prejudged: The Stigma of Eviction Court Records
Health
Health is often overlooked when thinking of the consequences of eviction. Renters, especially single mothers, often face hunger, sickness, and mental illnesses due to a pending eviction. Overall stress, depression, and anxiety can befall those facing an eviction, especially when the tenant is confused about the eviction process. Because working parents often focus the majority of their funds on housing expenses rather than necessities like food, lack of affordable housing has been linked to inadequate nutrition in children. Asthma, injuries, and infections, are just some of the medical examples caused by housing instability. Suicides as a result of evictions are not new in America’s history.
- Losing Home: The Human Cost of Eviction in Seattle
- Increase in Suicides Associated with Home Eviction and Foreclosure During the U.S. Housing Crisis: Findings From 16 National Violent Death Reporting System States, 2005-2010
- Housing and Health: Time Again for Public Health Action
- Eviction’s Fallout: Housing, Hardship, and Health
Employment & Finances
Evictions have been found to increase chances of job loss. Forced moves can result in relocating to less convenient locations which can lead to absenteeism or tardiness at one’s work. Going to court for an eviction is, for many tenants, time that is taken off work, which can then put their employment at risk. In some cases where the evicted tenant had a government housing voucher, an eviction can have a direct impact on that tenant’s financial situation in which the voucher is forfeited. Tenants are often on their own when faced with eviction court as they often don’t have the funds to obtain legal help and there has been a decrease in households receiving federal assistance.
- Discrimination in Evictions: Empirical Evidence and Legal Challenges
- Housing and Employment Insecurity Among the Working Poor
- Housing, Poverty, and the Law
Community and Family
For families, forced moves can lead to homelessness, separation of families, loss of possessions and changing schools for children. They may also be involved with the child welfare system and face the removal of their children because they cannot adequately care for them or find sources to help them achieve stability. In addition, communities with a high prevalence of evictions experience constant turnover and instability, which thwarts local collective success and empowerment. Likewise, the lack of these important community values can also have a negative impact on the development of young and adolescent children. Evictions also contribute to a higher risk of adolescent violence in children, poor school performance, and loss of neighborhood ties.
