Hidden Driver of Evictions: Energy Burdens
Rising utility bills significantly strain low-income households, but their impact on housing instability has been largely overlooked. The study (Housing costs are not a monolith: The association between neighborhood energy burdens and eviction filing rates by Megan E. Hatch and Michelle Graff) suggests energy assistance could help prevent evictions.
By the numbers
For every 1 percentage point increase in a neighborhood's average energy cost burden, eviction filing rates rose by 2.3%, even after controlling for rent burdens.
30.83% of census tracts studied have high energy burdens that are considered "energy stressed" to "energy impoverished."
Low-income neighborhoods face the highest energy cost burdens on average.
Energy costs mediate 5.4% of the relationship between neighborhood poverty and eviction filing rates, and 1.6% of the link between neighborhood racial composition and eviction rates. Rent burdens mediate 9.6% and 1.2% of those relationships respectively.
The big picture
Policymakers and researchers typically consider utilities along with rent when assessing housing affordability. However, the study authors argue that energy costs should be examined separately, as families respond differently to high utility bills than rent. They may pay rent first to avoid eviction while skimping on utilities and other needs.
Yes, but
The study relied on a single year of data. Longitudinal research is needed to determine if there is a causal link between energy burdens and evictions.
What's next
The authors recommend better coordination between housing and energy assistance programs to address affordability comprehensively.
Expanding the poorly funded federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and enabling more weatherization of low-income housing could help.
They also call for agencies to collect more granular data to enable additional research disentangling the impacts of various housing costs.
Reframing high utility bills as a contributor to evictions, not just an affordability issue, could spur new policy solutions to keep vulnerable families housed. Tackling energy burdens may be key to confronting the eviction epidemic.