In the media

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Our research is regularly cited in national and local news outlets; below is some of our recent press coverage.

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CityLab

Getting Old Needs a New Look

Researchers at Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies found that more than a third of older people are cost-burdened when it comes to housing, an all-time high. Deep racial inequities around homeownership, income, and affordable housing access exacerbate these issues.

Vox

A wave of evictions is coming. Democrats are proposing a lifeline

America was staring down a housing crisis even before the coronavirus arrived in the United States. Of America’s nearly 43 million renters, about 20.8 million — almost half — were “cost-burdened,” meaning more than 30 percent of their income went to housing costs, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies.

Forbes

America’s Next Housing Crisis: How The Pandemic Is Pushing Renters To The Brink

Overall measures of rental housing affordability and security improved only slightly during the pre-pandemic economic expansion. In 2018, even as the national unemployment rate was slipping to generational lows, nearly 21 million renters were classed as cost burdened, spending more than 30% of income on rent and utilities, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies.

The Washington Post

One home, a lifetime of impact

“Systemic racism leads to lower rates of education and lower incomes among blacks, which in turn lead to lower credit scores and a lack of savings,” says Chris Herbert, managing director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. “That accounts for about three-quarters of the homeownership gap, but one-fourth couldn’t be directly explained by lower incomes and lower rates of education.”

WBUR

Massachusetts Moratorium On Evictions And Foreclosures Extended To Mid-October

“The eviction moratoriums aren’t forgiving the rent — they’re just saying that the renter can’t be evicted,” said Whitney Airgood-Obrycki, a researcher at Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. “So for a lot of cash-strapped renters in particular, it’s going to be even harder a couple of months down the line to pay several months of rent.”