IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/28394.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Housing Precarity & the COVID-19 Pandemic: Impacts of Utility Disconnection and Eviction Moratoria on Infections and Deaths Across US Counties

Author

Listed:
  • Kay Jowers
  • Christopher Timmins
  • Nrupen Bhavsar
  • Qihui Hu
  • Julia Marshall

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated the adoption of a number of policies that aim to reduce the spread of the disease by promoting housing stability. Housing precarity, which includes both the risk of eviction and utility disconnections or shut-offs, reduces a person’s ability to abide by social distancing orders and comply with hygiene recommendations. Our analysis quantifies the impact of these various economic policies on COVID-19 infection and death rates using panel regression techniques to control for a variety of potential confounders. We find that policies that limit evictions are found to reduce COVID-19 infections by 3.8% and reduce deaths by 11%. Moratoria on utility disconnections reduce COVID-19 infections by 4.4% and mortality rates by 7.4%. Had such policies been in place across all counties (i.e., adopted as federal policy) from early March 2020 through the end of November 2020, our estimated counterfactuals show that policies that limit evictions could have reduced COVID-19 infections by 14.2% and deaths by 40.7%. For moratoria on utility disconnections, COVID-19 infections rates could have been reduced by 8.7% and deaths by 14.8%. Housing precarity policies that prevent eviction and utility disconnections have been effective mechanisms for decreasing both COVID-19 infections and deaths.

Suggested Citation

  • Kay Jowers & Christopher Timmins & Nrupen Bhavsar & Qihui Hu & Julia Marshall, 2021. "Housing Precarity & the COVID-19 Pandemic: Impacts of Utility Disconnection and Eviction Moratoria on Infections and Deaths Across US Counties," NBER Working Papers 28394, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28394
    Note: EH PE
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w28394.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John Eric Humphries & Nicholas Mader & Daniel Tannenbaum & Winnie van Dijk, 2019. "Does Eviction Cause Poverty? Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Cook County, IL," CESifo Working Paper Series 7800, CESifo.
    2. Doremus, Jacqueline M. & Jacqz, Irene & Johnston, Sarah, 2022. "Sweating the energy bill: Extreme weather, poor households, and the energy spending gap," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    3. Vanesa Castán Broto & Joshua Kirshner, 2020. "Energy access is needed to maintain health during pandemics," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 5(6), pages 419-421, June.
    4. Editorial, 2020. "Covid-19 and Climate Change," Journal, Review of Agrarian Studies, vol. 10(1), pages 5-6, January-J.
    5. H. Spencer Banzhaf & Lala Ma & Christopher Timmins, 2019. "Environmental Justice: Establishing Causal Relationships," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 11(1), pages 377-398, October.
    6. Brewis, Alexandra & Choudhary, Neetu & Wutich, Amber, 2019. "Household water insecurity may influence common mental disorders directly and indirectly through multiple pathways: Evidence from Haiti," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 238(C), pages 1-1.
    7. Matthew Desmond & Tracey Shollenberger, 2015. "Forced Displacement From Rental Housing: Prevalence and Neighborhood Consequences," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(5), pages 1751-1772, October.
    8. Brewis, Alexandra & Wutich, Amber & du Bray, Margaret V. & Maupin, Jonathan & Schuster, Roseanne C. & Gervais, Matthew M., 2019. "Community hygiene norm violators are consistently stigmatized: Evidence from four global sites and implications for sanitation interventions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 12-21.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Andre, Jennifer & Braga, Breno & Martinchek, Kassandra & McKernan, Signe-Mary, 2024. "The effects of state utility shutoff moratoria on credit delinquencies during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    2. Cicala, Steve, 2021. "The incidence of extreme economic stress: Evidence from utility disconnections," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    3. Leishman, Chris & Aminpour, Fatemeh & Baker, Emma & Beer, Andrew & Crowe, Adam & Goodall, Zoë & Horton, Ella & Jacobs, Keith & Lester, Laurence & Maclennan, Duncan, 2022. "Australia’s COVID-19 pandemic housing policy responses," SocArXiv yef47, Center for Open Science.
    4. Julia Hatamyar & Christopher F. Parmeter, 2023. "Local Eviction Moratoria and the Spread of COVID-19," Papers 2307.00251, arXiv.org.
    5. Stephen Malpezzi, 2023. "Housing affordability and responses during times of stress: A preliminary look during the COVID‐19 pandemic," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(1), pages 9-40, January.
    6. Jamila Michener, 2022. "Race, power, and policy: understanding state anti-eviction policies during COVID-19 [Pandemic politics: Timing state-level social distancing responses to COVID-19]," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 41(2), pages 231-246.
    7. Lodermeier, Alison, 2024. "Credit access and housing insecurity: Evidence from winter utility shutoff protections," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    8. Andrea Flores & George-Levi Gayle, 2022. "Disparities in COVID-19’s Impact on Employment and Household Consumption," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 104(4), pages 224-265, October.
    9. Yung Chun & Stephen Roll & Selina Miller & Hedwig Lee & Savannah Larimore & Michal Grinstein-Weiss, 2023. "Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Housing Instability During the COVID-19 Pandemic: the Role of Assets and Income Shocks," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 63-81, June.
    10. Theodore F. Figinski & Sydney Keenan & Richard James Sweeney & Erin Troland, 2024. "Targeted Relief: Geography and Timing of Emergency Rental Assistance," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2024-055, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    11. Mildred E Warner & Paige M Kelly & Xue Zhang, 2023. "Challenging austerity under the COVID-19 state," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 16(1), pages 197-209.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Robert Collinson & John Eric Humphries & Nicholas Mader & Davin Reed & Daniel Tannenbaum & Winnie van Dijk, 2024. "Eviction and Poverty in American Cities," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 139(1), pages 57-120.
    2. Fetzer, Thiemo & Sen, Srinjoy & Souza, Pedro CL, 2019. "Housing insecurity, homelessness and populism: Evidence from the UK," CEPR Discussion Papers 14184, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Cristiano, S. & Ulgiati, S. & Gonella, F., 2021. "Systemic sustainability and resilience assessment of health systems, addressing global societal priorities: Learnings from a top nonprofit hospital in a bioclimatic building in Africa," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    4. Hausman, Catherine & Stolper, Samuel, 2021. "Inequality, information failures, and air pollution," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    5. Andrea Baranzini & Stefano Carattini & Linda Tesauro, 2021. "Designing Effective and Acceptable Road Pricing Schemes: Evidence from the Geneva Congestion Charge," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 79(3), pages 417-482, July.
    6. Montgomery, Ann Elizabeth & Cusack, Meagan & Szymkowiak, Dorota & Fargo, Jamison & O’Toole, Thomas, 2017. "Factors contributing to eviction from permanent supportive housing: Lessons from HUD-VASH," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 55-63.
    7. Patrycja Klusak & Matthew Agarwala & Matt Burke & Moritz Kraemer & Kamiar Mohaddes, 2023. "Rising Temperatures, Falling Ratings: The Effect of Climate Change on Sovereign Creditworthiness," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(12), pages 7468-7491, December.
    8. David Klenert & Franziska Funke & Linus Mattauch & Brian O’Callaghan, 2020. "Five Lessons from COVID-19 for Advancing Climate Change Mitigation," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 76(4), pages 751-778, August.
    9. Nguyen, Minh-Hoang & Vuong, Quan-Hoang, 2020. "The third finding concerning a missing cultural value: a bibliometric analysis using the Web of Science," OSF Preprints jbcx3, Center for Open Science.
    10. Timothy J. Garrett & Matheus R. Grasselli & Stephen Keen, 2020. "Past production constrains current energy demands: persistent scaling in global energy consumption and implications for climate change mitigation," Papers 2006.03718, arXiv.org.
    11. Agarwala, Matthew & Burke, Matt & Klusak, Patrycja & Mohaddes, Kamiar & Volz, Ulrich & Zenghelis, Dimitri, 2021. "Climate Change And Fiscal Sustainability: Risks And Opportunities," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 258, pages 28-46, November.
    12. Lawal, Olanrewaju & Emeka, Anyiam, 2021. "Spatial Structure And Climatic Associations With Covid-19 Cases Across The Globe," Journal of Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, Cinturs - Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, University of Algarve, vol. 9(2), pages 75-90.
    13. Chaofeng Tang & Kentaka Aruga, 2021. "Effects of the 2008 Financial Crisis and COVID-19 Pandemic on the Dynamic Relationship between the Chinese and International Fossil Fuel Markets," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-11, May.
    14. Kenny Roz & Dicky Wisnu Usdek Riyanto & Marsudi & Salahudin, 2021. "Analysis of Covid-19 impact on virtual hotel operation in Indonesia," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 20(1), pages 694-703, June.
    15. Oliver Fiala & Enrique Delamónica & Gerardo Escaroz & Ismael Cid Martinez & José Espinoza-Delgado & Aristide Kielem, 2021. "Children in Monetary Poor Households: Baseline and COVID-19 Impact for 2020 and 2021," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 5(2), pages 161-176, July.
    16. Serhii Voitko & Tetiana Mazanko, 2021. "Assessment of the impact of COVID-restrictions on the economy of Ukraine and the world," Technology audit and production reserves, Socionet;Technology audit and production reserves, vol. 3(4(59)), pages 46-50.
    17. Liu, Hongfei & Liu, Wentong & Yoganathan, Vignesh & Osburg, Victoria-Sophie, 2021. "COVID-19 information overload and generation Z's social media discontinuance intention during the pandemic lockdown," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    18. Chen, Chien-fei & Nelson, Hannah & Xu, Xiaojing & Bonilla, Gregory & Jones, Nicholas, 2021. "Beyond technology adoption: Examining home energy management systems, energy burdens and climate change perceptions during COVID-19 pandemic," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    19. Shadi O. Tehrani & Shuling J. Wu & Jennifer D. Roberts, 2019. "The Color of Health: Residential Segregation, Light Rail Transit Developments, and Gentrification in the United States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-19, September.
    20. Cintia Rodrigues de Oliveira & Rafael Alcadipani da Silveira, 2021. "An Essay on Corporate Crimes in the Post-Colonial Perspective: Challenging Traditional Literature," RAC - Revista de Administração Contemporânea (Journal of Contemporary Administration), ANPAD - Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração, vol. 25(4), pages 190144-1901.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • R38 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Government Policy
    • R5 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:28394. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.