Systemic Racial Inequality and the COVID-19 Renter Crisis

As a collaborative effort with the UCLA Institute on Inequality & Democracy, UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge, and Ong & Associates, a new report released on August 7, 2020 breaks down how the coronavirus pandemic has intensified the plight of mass eviction for renters. In particular, the research shows how Black and Latinx renters are disproportionately impacted, underscoring how the coronavirus crisis exacerbates already existing disparities.

One of the far-reaching impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic will be mass evictions in California and elsewhere in the United States. Driven by the failure at all levels of government to institute tenant protections and keep people in their homes, such evictions will reshape cities, increasing homelessness and displacing communities.

Analyzing recent survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau, this research brief by CNK pinpoints the racial disparities that structure this crisis. Such disparities reflect institutionalized and systemic inequalities in education, employment, and housing. An especially important finding of the report is that across socio-economic status categories, Black and Latinx households are more likely to be unable to pay rent compared to non-Hispanic Whites and Asian Americans, a stark reminder of the entrenched racial disparities that are being re-articulated and amplified by the present crisis.

The brief underscores the necessity of social protection policies and programs, whether in the form of robust unemployment relief or rent cancellation. As CNK Director and Professor Paul Ong notes, programs of relief have perpetuated discrimination through the determination of eligibility. The unprecedented crisis at hand demands a new approach to public policy, one that can ensure a just recovery.

Read the full report here >>> Systemic Racial Inequality and the COVID-19 Renter Crisis