Housing and Evictions: The COVID-19 Housing Crisis Explained by Experts
With the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact still being felt in every area of American life, rigorous reporting on the crisis remains vital. To meet this need, Scholars Strategy Network has compiled a list of scholars who are available to be contacted for comments and analysis. Below are the scholars who can comment on the ongoing and expected housing and eviction crisis in the United States.
You can connect with all researchers available to comment on the COVID-19 pandemic here.
"None of this was predetermined, and none of it had to be so slow and self-defeating. We let a health and jobs crisis become a looming housing crisis, and if policymakers fail to act, especially at the federal level, the fallout from large-scale evictions and unstable housing will feed back into the pandemic and recession in the worst possible way."
"The U.S. stands on the precipice of a housing and eviction disaster. This disaster has been manufactured by racial capitalism, exposed by the pandemic, and exacerbated by poor policy decisions. Congress generously bailed out corporations while failing to adequately prioritize millions of people who lost their jobs due to the pandemic. Families need decisive and ambitious actions to prevent another housing disaster, and to stave the flow of Black and Brown wealth into white pockets. Congress must act with urgency to pass transformative policies whose scale matches the severity of the crisis."
"People assume that the lives of individuals and families become miraculously stable in times of a pandemic - that sheltering in place, particularly for people who are experiencing issues such as rental evictions, foreclosures, and homelessness can actually be done. During this global pandemic, we need to make sure that people who are experiencing housing transitions are able to keep themselves, their families, and their communities safe by having a place to self-isolate and not worry at the end of the day whether they will be kicked out of those places."
"People who could not pay housing costs over the past months will not be able to pay back housing costs on top of their regular expenses, as unemployment remains high and the supplemental $600 weekly payments come to a close at the end of this month. Temporary relief must be extended and combined with direct financial assistance to help those who might eventually face evictions, pay back rent, expanded access to housing vouchers, and increases in monthly voucher rental-allowance amounts in order to truly keep people in their homes, right now and when the health crisis eventually subsides."