Housing & Homelessness Archives

Safe and stable housing is a fundamental need for every child and adult. Yet state legal protections that have kept California renters with low incomes housed throughout the pandemic expire at the end of March 2022. Applications for emergency rental assistance will close at the same time.

Half of California renters with low incomes report facing housing hardship. While thousands of California households have been helped by emergency rental assistance as of mid-March 2022, other families and adults are still waiting for the state to process their applications and have not yet received payments.

State policymakers can extend legal protections for California renters, provide opportunities to still apply for emergency rental assistance, and help people avoid the devastating effects of eviction and potential homelessness. The health and economic effects of COVID-19 are not over for families and individuals — rental support must continue to keep Californians housed.

Support for this report was provided by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.

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Housing & Homelessness

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New Report: Children and Californians of Color are at Great Risk of Housing Instability Among California’s 17 Million Renters

January 21, 2021

By admin

SACRAMENTO — A new report by the California Budget & Policy Center highlights the vast housing instability and economic-racial inequity for the state’s 17 million renters before and after COVID-19, and why state and federal policymakers must urgently act on policies to extend eviction moratoriums and rental assistance.

Introduction

Almost 17 million Californians — 44% of all state residents — live in homes that are rented. As the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have unfolded, the urgent needs of California’s renters have rightly received significant attention, including calls for eviction moratoriums, rental assistance, and production of more affordable housing. Many of the millions of workers who have lost jobs fear missing rent payments and losing a safe home for their families at a time when having a safe and stable home is especially vital for both personal health and public health. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic and recession, when the state’s economy was booming, millions of California renters struggled to afford the high cost of their housing. In the coming months, California’s local, state, and federal policymakers will have choices and decisions to make about how to address the needs of renters through proposed changes in laws and new policy proposals.

To inform these choices, this Issue Brief addresses a few key questions:

Why do California’s renters face an increased risk of housing instability and homelessness?
How do renters’ housing crises affect individuals’ health during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond?
Which Californians are most likely to be renters?
And who are the Californians most likely to be affected by the policy choices that local, state, and federal policymakers can make for renters?

Support for this Issue Brief was provided by First 5 California.

COVID-19

Housing & Homelessness