Housing hardship and energy insecurity among native-born and immigrant low-income families with children in the United States.
The costs for rent and utilities account for the largest share of living expenses, yet these two critical dimensions of material hardship have seldom been examined concurrently in population-based studies. This paper employs multivariate statistical analysis using American Community Survey data to demonstrate the relative risk ratio of low-income renter-occupied households with children experiencing "rent burden," "energy insecurity," or a "double burden" as opposed to no burden. Findings suggest that low-income households are more likely to experience these economic hardships in general but that specific groups are disproportionately burdened in different ways. For instance, whereas immigrants are more likely to experience rental burden, they are less likely to experience energy insecurity and are also spared from the double burden. In contrast, native-born African Americans are more likely than all other groups to experience the double burden. These results may be driven by the housing stock available to certain groups due to racial residential segregation, decisions regarding the quality of housing low-income householders are able to afford, as well as home-country values, such as modest living and energy conservation practices, among immigrant families. This paper also points to important policy gaps in safety net benefits related to housing and energy targeting low-income households.
Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
Diana
D
Hernández
National Center for Children in Poverty and the Department of Health Policy and Management, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
Yang
Y
Jiang
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University; New York, NY, USA.
Daniel
D
Carrión
Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
Douglas
D
Phillips
National Center for Children in Poverty and the Department of Health Policy and Management, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
Yumiko
Y
Aratani
double burden; energy insecurity; housing and health; immigrant groups; material hardship; rental burden; vulnerable populations