Summary
Summary: Unaffordable housing is associated with adverse health-related outcomes, but little is known about the associations between moving due to unaffordable housing and health-related outcomes. Using data from the 2011–2017 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), researchers examine the association of recent cost-driven residential moves with health-related outcomes by looking at cost-driven moves in the past three years relative to no move and to noncost-driven moves. They assess five outcomes: psychological distress, emergency department [ED] visits in the past year, preventive care visits in the past year, general health, and walking for leisure in the past seven days.
Findings: Among 52,646 adult renters and other nonhomeowners, 50.3% were female, 85.2% were younger than 60 years, 45.3% were Hispanic, and 55.1% had income lower than 200% of the federal poverty level. Overall, 8.9% of renters reported making a recent cost-driven move, with higher prevalence among Hispanic (9.9%) and non-Hispanic Black (11.3%) renters compared with non-Hispanic white renters (7.2%).
In multivariable models, compared with not moving, cost-driven moving was associated with a 4.2 percentage point higher probability of experiencing moderate psychological distress; a 3.2 percentage point higher probability of experiencing severe psychological distress; a 2.5 percentage point higher probability of ED visits; a 5.1 percentage point lower probability of having preventive care visits; a 3.7 percentage point lower probability of having good, very good, or excellent general health; and 16.8 fewer minutes of walking for leisure.
General health, psychological distress, and walking for leisure were also worse with cost-driven moves relative to noncost-driven moves, with a 3.2 percentage point higher probability of experiencing moderate psychological distress; a 2.5 percentage point higher probability of experiencing severe psychological distress; a 4.6 percentage point lower probability of having good, very good, or excellent general health; and 13.0 fewer minutes of walking for leisure. However, the incidence of preventive care and ED visits did not differ between those who made cost-driven vs noncost-driven moves.
In this study, cost-driven moves were associated with adverse health-related outcomes relative to not moving and to noncost-driven moves. These findings suggest that policies to improve housing affordability, prevent displacement, and increase access to health care for groups vulnerable to cost-driven moves may have the potential to improve population health equity, especially during the current national housing affordability crisis.
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