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In Need of a Roof: Pandemic and Housing Vulnerability

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  • Kusum Mundra
  • Ruth Uwaifo Oyelere

Abstract

Housing is a basic need and is intricately connected to a household’s health and wellness. The current pandemic has exposed the housing vulnerability for certain subgroups of the population and further jeopardized these household’s health and stability. Using the Household Pulse Survey (HPS) launched by the US Census Bureau in April 2020, we examine the correlates of housing vulnerability during the pandemic. We explore both subjective and objective measures of vulnerability. We find that households who said they tend to worry more frequently are significantly more housing vulnerable and this is more acute for renters. We explore heterogeneity in the evolution of housing vulnerability along demographic characteristics such as ethnicity and housing type (renter vs owner) during the pandemic. Our main results suggest that an individual’s perception on their housing vulnerability in the immediate future is on average higher than the objective evaluation of their current vulnerability. In addition, not being employed, lower levels of education and household size all increase home vulnerability. We also find significant heterogeneity across race in the evolution of vulnerability during the pandemic (2000-2022) with a “chilling effect” on Asians.

Suggested Citation

  • Kusum Mundra & Ruth Uwaifo Oyelere, 2023. "In Need of a Roof: Pandemic and Housing Vulnerability," Working Papers Rutgers University, Newark 2023-003, Department of Economics, Rutgers University, Newark.
    • Handle: RePEc:run:wpaper:2023-003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gabriel, Stuart A. & Rosenthal, Stuart S., 2005. "Homeownership in the 1980s and 1990s: aggregate trends and racial gaps," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 101-127, January.
    2. Couch, Kenneth A. & Fairlie, Robert W. & Xu, Huanan, 2020. "The Impacts of COVID-19 on Minority Unemployment: First Evidence from April 2020 CPS Microdata," IZA Discussion Papers 13264, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Borjas, George J., 2020. "Demographic Determinants of Testing Incidence and COVID-19 Infections in New York City Neighborhoods," IZA Discussion Papers 13115, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Wei Cheng & Patrick Carlin & Joanna Carroll & Sumedha Gupta & Felipe Lozano Rojas & Laura Montenovo & Thuy D. Nguyen & Ian M. Schmutte & Olga Scrivner & Kosali I. Simon & Coady Wing & Bruce Weinberg, 2020. "Back to Business and (Re)employing Workers? Labor Market Activity During State COVID-19 Reopenings," NBER Working Papers 27419, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Coulson, N. Edward, 1999. "Why Are Hispanic- and Asian-American Homeownership Rates So Low?: Immigration and Other Factors," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 209-227, March.
    6. Julio Huato & Aida Chavez, 2021. "Household Income, Pandemic-Related Income Loss, and the Probability of Anxiety and Depression," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 47(4), pages 546-570, October.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Renter; Homeowner; Housing vulnerability; Pandemic; Ethnicity; Asian;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R2 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis
    • R3 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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