Housing Instability for Young People and Families: New Data, Longstanding Inequities
Each year in the United States, millions of young people and families face housing insecurity and instability, including high cost burdens, unsafe living situations, overcrowding, frequent moves, evictions, foreclosures and homelessness.
Housing insecurity is not experienced equally. Structural inequities and inadequate service systems have led certain groups to disproportionately experience housing instability or homelessness, including people of color, youth and young adults, immigrants and those with disabilities or mental illness. Among youth and young adults, the following groups face similar risks, including: LGBTQ youth, young parents, those without a high school diploma and those who have had contact with the child welfare or juvenile justice systems.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation has expanded its housing-focused investments in recent years, supporting national and local partnerships to improve housing security across the country. The Foundation’s KIDS COUNT Data Center also tracks multiple measures of housing instability for children, youth and young adults, including data for racial and ethnic groups and children in immigrant families. The latest findings are summarized below.
Why Housing Is Vital to Young People, Families and Communities
Housing is much more than a roof over one’s head. A place to call home is a basic human need — one of safety, stability, support and belonging. Stable housing roots children, young people and families in communities, enabling them to access opportunities that are necessary for them to thrive and build a bright future.
Research shows that stable housing is linked to:
- increased educational achievement for children and improved health outcomes for all ages;
- greater family stability and better mental health for children, youth and parents;
- improved stability for jobs, social networks and other family resources, including receipt of public benefits; and
- stronger communities, as young people and families build greater ties to neighbors and the places they live.
By contrast, housing instability makes it difficult for young people and others to finish school or gain work experience that leads to a career and greater economic stability. It also can cause trauma for children, youth and adults that can lead to myriad challenges, including struggles with mental health and overall well-being. Additionally, housing instability undermines communities, as the people involved are unable to build strong ties to the places they live.
High Housing Costs for Families: Progress Stalls, Racial Inequities Persist
Nationwide, the share of children in families with high housing cost burdens — meaning more than 30% of monthly income is spent on housing—fell in the past decade from 38% in 2012 to 30% in 2019, but the figure has stagnated since then and remains at 30% as of 2022.
Looking at children in low-income families only, this figure declined from 65% in 2012 to 61% in 2022, or from about 21 million to 16 million kids. While this is progress, the majority of low-income children continue to live in households that spend more than 30% of their limited income on housing, leaving fewer resources available for essentials like food and health care
Stark racial and ethnic inequities also continue. While all racial and ethnic groups saw improvements on this measure from 2012 to 2019, data source changes in 2020 limit any comparisons to prior years. However, the latest data from 2022 show enduring disparities for children growing up with high housing cost burdens. For instance:
- Nearly half (45%) of all Black children live in families burdened by high housing costs, more than double the figure for white kids (22%).
- Almost two in five (39%) Latino children experience high housing cost burdens, well above the national average of 30%.
- About one in three (34%) kids of two or more races experience high housing cost burdens, followed by 31% of American Indian or Alaska Native children and 29% of Asian and Pacific Islander kids.
These findings are consistent with other housing insecurity measures on the KIDS COUNT Data Center from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, which indicate that:
- Black and Latino families are more likely to face difficulties with housing payments. For example, from March 30 to May 9, 2022, 32% of Black families with children and 29% of Latino families had little or no confidence in their ability to make their next rent or mortgage payment on time, compared to just 18% for families overall and 11% for white families. This pattern was consistent throughout the 2020–2022 survey.
- Black families face a higher risk of evictions or foreclosures. In 2021, almost half (45%) of Black families with children reported that they were very likely to leave their home or apartment soon due to eviction or foreclosure, the highest rate of all racial and ethnic groups with data and well above the national average (36%). Findings were similar in 2020.
Putting racial and ethnic housing disparities into context
For decades, people of color have experienced disproportionate levels of housing insecurity, according to many sources including the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. These inequities have roots in discriminatory policies such as redlining and the forced relocation of American Indian and Alaska Native populations.
Policy-driven segregation and long-term underinvestment in certain communities have led to unequal opportunities and a higher risk of housing instability for many people of color. The Federal Strategic Plan also reports that Black Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Latinos and Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are overrepresented in the U.S. homeless population compared to their respective proportions of the overall population.
Some states face steeper housing challenges and disparities
Four states — California (41%), Hawaii (38%), Florida (38%) and New York (38%) — had the highest percentage of kids burdened by high housing costs in 2022. These states are home to nearly one-fourth of the nation’s children or more than 17 million kids total.
Looking at these states more closely:
- More than half of Black children in California (54%) and Florida (52%) are growing up in families with high housing cost burdens.
- In California, nearly half (46%) of both Latino and American Indian or Alaska Native kids are living in households with high housing costs, as well.
- In New York, Latino (48%) and Black (47%) children are hardest hit, followed closely by Asian and Pacific Islander (44%) kids.
- Hawaii has limited data by racial and ethnic group, but available data show that 38% of children with two or more races, and 34% of Asian and Pacific Islander kids, are living in families burdened by high housing costs.
Paying too much for rent or a mortgage limits a family’s capacity to afford other necessities, such as food, health care, transportation and child care. To build economic security for their families, parents and caregivers need both affordable housing options and jobs that pay a living wage. Since obtaining both is often out of reach, many low-income families struggle to meet their basic needs. In six states, more than 70% of kids in low-income families experience high housing cost burdens: Maryland (71%), New York (71%), California (74%), Massachusetts (74%), Connecticut (75%) and New Jersey (80%), according to 2022 data.
Kids in Immigrant Families Are at Higher Risk of Housing Instability
Children in immigrant families are more likely to grow up in households with high housing cost burdens, at 37% compared to 28% of kids in U.S.-born families in 2022, although this gap has narrowed over the past decade and rates have declined for both groups.
This rate varies by state, as well. In New York, nearly half (46%) of kids in immigrant families were living in households grappling with high housing costs, the highest rate in the country among states with available data in 2022. At the other end of the spectrum, Missouri and Wisconsin had less than half of New York’s rate, with just 22% of kids in immigrant families experiencing housing cost burdens.
Children in immigrant families are also far more likely to live in crowded housing than kids in U.S.-born families. (“Crowded housing” is defined as more than one person per room, including living rooms, dining rooms, etc.) This disparity has been consistent since the KIDS COUNT Data Center began tracking this measure two decades ago. In 2022, just over one in four (26%) kids in immigrant families lived in crowded households, close to three times the rate (10%) of their peers in U.S.-born families.
Families may be forced to move in with others when they lack affordable housing options or they are not able to pay their rent or mortgage for other reasons. Living in crowded housing is linked to increased stress, sleep difficulties and health problems.
Over 4 Million Youth and Young Adults Experience Homelessness
Housing insecurity among youth and young adults is an urgent national problem. The Casey Foundation’s recent brief on Preventing and Ending Youth Homelessness in America reported that more than 4 million young people experience some form of homelessness in a given year, including about 700,000 teens ages 13 to 17 and 3.5 million young adults ages 18 to 25, according to Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago.
These youth are exposed to volatility and trauma during an important developmental period, between ages 14 to 24, in which young people are maturing physically and mentally and ideally learning how to build relationships and life skills. The longer youth experience unstable housing, the more likely they will go through greater levels of adversity and trauma, with implications for their long-term well-being.
It is critical to address housing instability and prevent homelessness before it occurs. The KIDS COUNT Data Center sheds light on the status of housing stability for youth and young adults:
- Nationally, more than one in four (28%) young people ages 14 to 24 live in households with high housing cost burdens, according to the latest data from 2017–2021. This is an improvement from 35% in 2006–2010, but figures have remained around 28% since 2015–2019.
- At the state level in 2017–2021, at least one in three youth and young adults in California (37%), New York (33%) and Florida (33%) were burdened by housing costs, compared to just 19% in South Dakota.
- Black and Latino youth and young adults face the highest rates of housing cost burdens nationally, at 36% and 34%, respectively, compared to their peers in other racial and ethnic groups with data.
- One in eight (13%) U.S. young adults ages 18 to 24 had little or no confidence in their ability to make their next rent or mortgage payment, according to 2022 survey data from March 30 to May 9. This figure ranged between 10% and 15% over the previous year.
Ensuring All Children, Youth and Families Have Safe, Stable Homes
Many factors have contributed to the housing problems and disparities outlined above, including decades of increasing economic inequality, discriminatory policies, the COVID-19 pandemic, ineffective service systems, rising housing costs and a shortage of affordable housing.
Youth and family housing instability can be effectively addressed, if prioritized, by policymakers, funders, service providers and communities. Interventions and investments should focus on prevention, equity, cross-system partnerships, housing assistance and increasing the supply of affordable housing, among other strategies. See the following publications for specific recommendations:
- Preventing and Ending Youth Homelessness in America, 2023, Annie E. Casey Foundation
- New Opportunities: A National Strategy to Prevent Homelessness, 2024, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago
- Out of Reach: The High Cost of Housing, 2023, National Low Income Housing Coalition
Access More Casey Foundation Resources
- See all housing data on the KIDS COUNT Data Center
- Explore a range of publications, blog posts and other content to support stable housing for children, youth and families
- Read more about children in immigrant families
- Sign up for Casey Foundation newsletters to get the latest data, reports and resources
