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Severe Housing Cost Burden
In addition to poverty, increased housing costs relative to income are also linked to negative health outcomes, including chronic conditions, poor health, and stress, especially among female-headed households.10,11 Severe housing insecurity during pregnancy, in particular, can have serious maternal and infant health impacts such as low birth weight, maternal morbidity, inadequate prenatal care, and maternal stress.11,12 Approximately 7.5 million females ages 18-44 experience severe housing cost burden — in this analysis defined as the percentage of females ages 18-44 living in households that spend more than 50% of their income on housing — in the U.S. annually in 2018-2022.
Nationally, the percentage of females ages 18-44 who experience severe housing cost burden decreased 22% from 16.3% to 12.8% between 2010-2014 and 2018-2022. Despite decreases in housing cost burden across demographic groups of race/ethnicity and education, significant increases occurred among females living in middle-income households — 45% for those with yearly household incomes of $25,000-$49,999 (14.8% to 21.5%) and 23% for those with yearly household incomes of $50,000-$74,999 (3.9% to 4.8%). For the period of 2018-2022, the percentage of females ages 18-44 who experienced severe housing costs were:
- 105.1 times higher among females with household incomes below $25,000 (73.6%) compared to those with $75,000 or more (0.7%).
- 30.7 times higher among females with household incomes of $25,000 to $49,999 (21.5%) compared to those with $75,000 or more (0.7%).
- 3.0 times higher among those with less than a high school education (16.2%) than college graduates (7.3%).
- 2.1 times higher among Black (20.0%) than white females (9.6%) and 1.8 times higher than American Indian/Alaska Native females (11.4%).