With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s ban on eviction expiring in a few days, millions of families still default on rent.
According to the survey, as of the first week of July, of the 7 million people surveyed, about 1.4 million said they are likely to face deportation within the next two months. CDC’s latest family pulse survey. Of the 51 million people, 7.4 million said they are currently in arrears in rent.
“In the next few days and weeks, it’s difficult to know exactly what will happen. National Low-Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) research analyst Dan Threet said in a report: “Sometimes there is a lot of information about eviction waves, Talking about bubbles or cliffs, I’m not sure what we will see. “Telephone interview.” Even though low-income renters are pressured by loss of income, they have made a lot of sacrifices to stay at home. Whether it is short-term or long-term, low-income renters are very worried. “
Although emergency federal relief funds have been allocated to support those who lag behind in rent and utility bills, it is a slow process to get them into people’s hands. Of the 46 billion U.S. dollars allocated by Congress for emergency rental assistance, the states actually only distributed about 3 billion U.S. dollars. According to the Washington Post.
There are a few states that cannot handle rent assistance so quickly. Another compound factor: Many people don’t even realize that they are eligible for assistance.
Housing affordability is still an issue
Insurance companies and other healthcare organizations have also seen the domino effect of housing insecurity on people’s health. CareSource is an Ohio-based insurance company that operates a large-scale Medicaid managed medical plan. Its housing director, Amy Riegel, said that before the pandemic, many people were already struggling to obtain housing or were burdened by Huge public utility debt.
The problem is not limited to cities with high housing prices. A recent NLIHC report found that the minimum wage Not enough to rent a two-bedroom apartment Except two states in the United States, all other states.
Riegel said in a telephone interview: “The suspension is helpful because it prevents the huge impact of the tsunami, homelessness and evictions I can imagine.”
But it still cannot eliminate people’s rent debt, utility debt, or previous evictions from people’s records. Sometimes emergency rent assistance is used to pay utility debts, which allows people to turn the lights back on, but still cannot solve the problem of housing costs exceeding the income of most minimum-wage workers.
“This helped prevent the impact of what might happen, but it didn’t solve the problem,” she said. “We must truly accept the instability of housing in our country.”
Rieger said that even if many companies reopen, not everyone will be able to return to work. Nurseries are still difficult to find because the center has either not reopened, or the number of seats is limited, and the children are out of school during the summer vacation. Most importantly, some people with Covid-19 are still struggling with disease-related complications.
“People are eager to re-enter the labor market,” she said. “They wanted to get jobs again, but they didn’t get support.”
Taylor Justice, co-founder and president of medical technology company Unite Us, says that these different factors—employment, parenting, housing, and transportation—are all interrelated. The company makes software to coordinate the health care of social service providers and individuals to make it easier to intervene when they need support.
“Giving them a list and sending them on the road is not enough,” he said in a Zoom interview.
Justis added that in the 42 states that Unite Us operates, housing has always been the “top two” demand.
“Most Americans live on salary,” he said. “(Insecure housing) affects more people than you think.”
In order to solve housing and other comprehensive costs, Unite Us Cooperation with United Way Provide rental and mortgage assistance in Kentucky, plus flexible cash assistance to help pay for transportation services, diapers, childcare, and other critical needs.
Entering next month, it is difficult to know what will happen. People still worry that people who barely make ends meet to rent may make other sacrifices to keep their homes.
NLIHC’s Threet said: “We know that many renters who have lost their wages are sacrificing other basic needs to stay up to date.” “If it is done in an unsustainable way, it may become a problem in the future.”
