With unemployment at (officially) 11.1% and more than 48 million Americans filing first time unemployment claims in the last three months, the US is heading for a new homeless crisis due to the termination of a supplemental unemployment assistance program slated for the end of July.
According to Politico, the Urban Institute estimates that more than 8.9 million households are “rent-burdened,” spending more than 30% of their income on rental housing. That’s nearly double the number prior to the pandemic-induced recession.
The $600 additional unemployment payments have helped keep millions of families in their homes, but with those payments ending at the end of July and furloughs continuing (or reintroduced) in many states, those families now face the real possibility of losing their residences.
Housing instability has a wave effect on populations, leading to problems with hunger, education and healthcare–as well as the economic effects of higher bankruptcies for both the family involved and the landlord, with approximately 50% of all rentals being own by small business entities controlling fewer than 30 rental units.