The Affordable Rental Housing Crisis and Population Health Equity: a Multidimensional and Multilevel Framework

The US is facing a severe affordable rental housing crisis that contributes to multiple forms of housing insecurity including homelessness, crowded and poor quality housing conditions, unstable housing arrangements, and cost burdens. A considerable body of evidence finds that housing insecurity is an important determinant of health. However, the existing literature may fall short of conceptualizing and measuring the full impact of housing insecurity on population health and on racial health equity. In this paper, we seek to expand the conceptualization of housing as a determinant of population health equity by considering housing insecurity as a manifestation of structural racism that intersects with other manifestations and impacts of structural racism to affect, not only the health of housing insecure individuals, but also the health of the networks and communities in which these individuals live. First, we situate the current housing crisis within larger systems of structural racism. We extend prior work documenting the confluence of ways that racist policies and practices have created unequal burdens of housing insecurity to also discuss the ways that the meanings and impacts of housing insecurity may be shaped by racism. Next, we consider how the health impacts of this unequal burden of housing insecurity can extend beyond individual households to affect networks and communities. Ultimately, we provide a multilevel framework that can inform research, policy, and practice to address housing and health equity.