No abstract

Drawing on over 8 million eviction court records from twenty-eight states, this study shows the role that eviction filings play in extracting monetary sanctions from tenants. In so doing, it documents an unanticipated feature of housing insecurity: serial eviction filings. Serial eviction filings occur when a property manager files to evict the same household repeatedly from the same address. Almost half of all eviction filings in our sample are associated with serial filings. Combining multivariate analysis with in-depth interviews conducted with thirty-three property managers and ten attorneys and court officials, we document the dynamics and consequences of serial eviction filings. When legal environments expedite the eviction process, property managers use the housing court to collect rent and late fees, passing costs on to tenants. Serial eviction filings exacerbate tenants’ housing cost burden and compromise their ability to find future housing. Using tract-level rent and filing fees, we estimate that each eviction filing translates into approximately $180 in fines and fees for the typical renter household, raising their monthly housing cost by 20%. The study challenges existing views of eviction as a discrete event concentrated among poor renters. Rather, it may be better conceived of as a routinized, drawn-out process affecting a broader segment of the rental market and entailing consequences beyond displacement.

Objective: This study analyzes the relationships between parental working schedules and several aspects of child-care arrangements for young children in low-income single-mother and two-partner households. Background: Children whose parents work nonstandard schedules may hold child-care arrangements that are less stimulating or developmentally productive than their peers whose parents work standard schedules. This study builds on previous research by expanding the set of outcomes under analysis, accounting for coscheduling in two-partner households, revising traditional shift definitions, and using recent, nationally representative data. Method: The 2012 National Survey of Early Care and Education is used to develop work schedule typologies. Regression methods are employed to evaluate the relationships between these schedules and the use of center-based, home-based, and relative care; continuity of care; and complexity of care (a new measure introduced as an alternative to care multiplicity). Results: Nonstandard schedules are associated with increased child-care complexity and decreased continuity and the types of care that children receive in single-mother households but less so in two-partner households. In two-partner households the largest effects are

The coronavirus pandemic precipitated an economic crisis disproportionately affecting renter households. Attempting to prevent a surge in evictions, policy makers at the federal, state, and local levels extended emergency protections to renters. The authors describe eviction filing patterns in 2020 and analyze the efficacy of eviction moratoria. New filings were reduced dramatically since the start of the pandemic. Between March 15 and December 31, 2020, across sites for which data are available, 65 percent fewer eviction cases were filed than would be expected in a typical year. Extrapolating nationwide, the authors estimate that at least 1.55 million fewer eviction cases were filed in 2020 than in a normal year. The pace at which cases were filed increased in late 2020, however, and the amount of back rent claimed grew considerably. Filing rates exceeded historical averages when protections lapsed. Black and female renters received a disproportionate share of eviction cases filed during the pandemic.