Search Results
Discussion Paper
HOUSEHOLD RENTAL DEBT DURING COVID-19
COVID-19 and associated economic shutdowns have led to unprecedented job losses, with up to 20 million households and 24 million individuals experiencing an unemployment spell between March 2020 and August 2020.1 The scale of these losses, their disproportionate impact on lower-income workers, and the uncertain timeline of economic recovery have raised concerns about the ability of households to maintain rent payments while out of work.
Report
A Mixed-Methods Exploration of Consumer Credit Trends by Age in the Third Federal Reserve District
While there is growing awareness of the importance of consumer credit use for the broader economy, less is understood about the full context of borrowers? balance sheets and how financial challenges change over a credit user?s lifecycle. Responding to this knowledge gap, this report takes a comparative look at the use of credit among Third Federal Reserve District residents across three age groups (18 to 34, 35 to 54, and 55 to 84 years). Combining analysis of credit bureau data with insights from interviews with housing and credit counselors, this report provides a comprehensive overview of ...
Working Paper
Gentrification and residential mobility in Philadelphia
Gentrification has provoked considerable debate and controversy about its effects on neighborhoods and the people residing in them. This paper draws on a unique large-scale consumer credit database to examine the mobility patterns of residents in gentrifying neighborhoods in the city of Philadelphia from 2002 to 2014. We find significant heterogeneity in the effects of gentrification across neighborhoods and subpopulations. Residents in gentrifying neighborhoods have slightly higher mobility rates than those in nongentrifying neighborhoods, but they do not have a higher risk of moving to a ...
Journal Article
Rental Housing Affordability Impacts Educational and Employment Opportunities*
Though safe, stable housing is widely recognized as a basic human need, it is far from assured for many renters in the Third Federal Reserve District. Across Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, the lowest-income renters faced severe shortages of affordable and available units (Figure 1) in 2014, leading to widespread housing cost burdens among households with the most limited means. In all three states, the share of lower-income renter households with unaffordable housing costs1 grew significantly from 2005 to 2014, ranging from over two-thirds in Pennsylvania to more than three-quarters ...
Journal Article
Research on Affordable Rental Housing and Subsidy Expiration
There is an abundance of evidence that rental markets across the country are unaffordable. Studies show that, from 2000 to 2010, there was a rapid decline in rental affordability, with rent increases occurring in the face of stagnant or declining incomes in nearly every metropolitan area and across almost every quintile of the income distribution during that period.
Report
Household Rental Debt during COVID-19
This report estimates the number of households with rental debt — and the amount of debt owed — resulting from employment losses attributable to COVID-19.
Report
Affordability and Availability of Rental Housing in the Third Federal Reserve District: 2015
In the aftermath of the foreclosure crisis and subsequent tightening of mortgage credit, many households have turned to the rental housing market, increasing pressure on an already limited supply of low-cost units. Using the most recent data available, this issue of Cascade Focus analyzes trends in rental housing affordability in the Third Federal Reserve District between 2007 and 2012. In addition to examining rates of housing cost burden for low-income renter households, this analysis evaluates whether the supply of affordable rental units is sufficient to meet the need. Lastly, this report ...
Journal Article
The Fair Housing Potential of Small Area FMRs in the Philadelphia Region
The housing choice voucher (HCV) program, sometimes referred to as Section 8 vouchers, is the largest housing assistance program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), enabling over 2.2 million renter households across the country to access affordable, decent-quality rental units. Unlike project-based subsidies that make dedicated units available at below-market rents, the HCV program allows low-income households to select from units in the private rental market, subsidizing rents such that they do not exceed 30 percent of household income. In theory, the ...
Report
Household Rental Debt During COVID-19: UPDATE FOR AUGUST 2021
This research update provides new estimates of rental debt that households have accrued because of job loss or involuntary part-time work during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this update is to provide national and state stakeholders with updated estimates of pandemic-related rental debt as we approach the end of the national eviction moratorium implemented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).1 These estimates should be interpreted as the amount of rental debt existing prior to the distribution of emergency rental assistance.