Abstract
More than 50 years after the Fair Housing Act was passed in the USA, equitable outcomes in housing remain elusive. Much research on fair housing has focused on access to housing in the renting or buying process and residential segregation patterns. However, analyses typically overlook how families and individuals can maintain stability once they actually secure housing, particularly for renters. Therefore, this research considers renter insecurity, defined by unaffordability, overcrowding, poor physical conditions, and forced moves, as an essential component to understanding and evaluating fair housing. Using this perspective, inequities in housing insecurity are measured among federal fair housing protected classes. Analyses confirm that households historically impacted by discrimination (e.g., Black, female, disabled, and non-native born) experience disproportionately severe and frequent manifestations of housing insecurity. Consequently, it is not enough to ensure equal access to housing without simultaneously requiring equity in long-term housing outcomes. The research concludes with a discussion of the role of social work practice in advancing fair housing, with a particular emphasis on bridging work between individuals and communities and the implications for policy.
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Notes
Although some states and localities have opted to add a wider range of protections for fair housing, including but not limited to sexual orientation, military status, source of income, and marital status (The Policy Surveillance Program, 2017), this paper will focus on the federal categories that apply consistently to all areas across the United States.
The head of household is the first household member listed on the survey questionnaire who is an owner or renter of the sample unit and is 15 years or older.
The American Housing Survey defines moderately inadequate housing as a unit with three or four maintenance defects, a lack of complete kitchen facilities, an antiquated heating supply, or more than two prolonged toilet breakdowns. It defines severely inadequate housing as lacking running water, a proper bathroom, has prolonged heat outages, no electricity, exposed wiring, or more than five maintenance defects (Eggers & Moumen, 2013; Wheelock & Eggers, 2015).
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Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank her dissertation committee: Tatjana Meschede (chair), Grant Ritter, Jennifer Molinsky, and Lindsay Rosenfeld for their valuable and continuous feedback on this research.
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Routhier, G. The Case for Considering Renter Insecurity as an Indicator of Federal Fair Housing Progress. J. Hum. Rights Soc. Work 6, 287–297 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41134-021-00181-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41134-021-00181-1