Life happens in our homes. Having a safe space to rest and spend time with loved ones is critical for happiness and well-being. Yet forceful removal from a home has devastating financial and psychological consequences for individuals and their families. In the United States, more than two million households have an eviction filed against them each year. And while the US Centers for Disease Control’s moratorium on evictions provided some respite during the COVID-19 pandemic, at the end of August, the US Supreme Court overturned the ban, with significant implications for millions of Americans. Eviction is a leading cause of homelessness and residential instability, often forcing families to move to neighborhoods with poorer living conditions. Yet eviction may have far broader consequences for local communities.
Recently, my colleagues and I analyzed how neighborhood rates of eviction, especially in disadvantaged locales, might influence crime in those places. Until the eviction moratorium was enacted in 2020 as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the national US eviction rate had remained largely stable over the past two decades. But what are the consequences for crime in local communities where eviction is higher than others?
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