Any family or individual experiencing a housing crisis can clearly describe its impact. The most obvious is the need to shuffle income to cover the most immediate need, while something else in turn suffers: prescriptions or other health care, school books or adequate clothing, food and other necessities,  transportation to get to work or school..  At worst, the crisis can force a move to substandard housing or the street.

Because the relationship between safe, decent, affordable housing and every other element of our lives is clear, studies and other reports have now documented and, in some cases, quantified, just what this relationship means – and costs – for households, for society, for government.

These include, at least:

• Health care. Inadequate and substandard housing creates health hazards for children, in particular, but for their families and the elderly, as well as, those with any kind of disability.  Pest infestation is known to cause asthma.  Substandard electrical problems are a danger to children.  Lead poisoning leads to a decrease in IQs.  Children living in inadequate housing have increased hospitalizations and respiratory infections.
• Educational opportunities. Lack of available affordable housing causes families to move frequently in search of decent housing, often requiring their children to move from school to school to school and, most likely, performing less well because of it.  Higher school-mobility rates affect the entire system and cause the most harm to children whose families have low incomes.
• Transportation costs. Lack of available affordable housing near employment opportunities increases transportation costs and reduces opportunities for job placement and advancement.
• The costs of not providing needed affordable housing.   Individuals and families paying excessive amounts of income for housing, do not have funds to pay for other necessities, including health care, child care, food, and transportation.  Reducing their housing costs can put more money into local economies.  By most accounts, quantifying the costs of not providing affordable housing is not exactly a science; however, highlighting the relationship between housing and other necessities is a very powerful foundation that helps build the case for more resources.  Very few comprehensive studies quantify these figures.  One commissioned by Lee County, Florida concluded that the county incurs costs of $250 million a year for its lack of affordable housing.
• A growing body of evidence has also documented the costs of homelessness.  The National Alliance to End Homeless has summarized some of this research on their website.

Health, Education and Other Relational Studies:

There are vast resources available in this area, particularly around the relationship between affordable housing and health or education.  And, fortunately, many of these have been compiled by the National Housing Conference.  “Vital Links:  Housing’s Contributions to the Nation’s Health and Education Objectives,” includes  research summaries; literature reviews; annotated bibliographies, and fact sheets.

See also:

• “Housing and Education: Putting the Pieces Together,” by Champlain Housing Trust and Housing Vermont, was released in series reports connecting affordable homes to other issues important to Vermonters.
• “Housing and Health: The Importance of Place,” by Champlain Housing Trust and Housing Vermont, was released in series reports connecting affordable homes to other issues important to Vermonters.
• “The Economic Cost of Substandard Housing Conditions Among North Carolina Children,” which calculated the cost of substandard housing at $95 million.
• “Out of Breath,” by the Metropolitan Housing Commission for Louisville, Kentucky, which shows a relationship between communities with a concentration of substandard housing and emergency room visits by children with asthma and other ailments.
• “Where Do You Live? Louisville’s Homeless Children and the Affordable Housing Crisis,” by the Metropolitan Housing Commission for Louisville, Kentucky, which shows a relationship between homeless children and the lack of affordable housing, as well as profiling the negative impacts of homeless on children.
• “A Long Way From Home: The Impacts of a Limited Supply of Workforce Housing,” a report from the Center for Urban & Regional Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill connecting housing, affordability and the environment.
• “Housing Policy Is School Policy: Economically Integrative Housing Promotes Academic Success in Montgomery County, Maryland” which connects the positive impacts of locating affordable housing in affluent neighborhoods has on the education outcomes of children from low income households.
• “Behind Closed Doors: The Hidden Health Impacts of Being Behind on Rent” a report from Children’s HealthWatch  in Massachusetts that concludes that being behind on rent or mortgage is not only a risk factor for homelessness but a risk factor for seriously compromised maternal and child health.