2024 Reports

Rural Housing Insecurity and Children in Disasters: Key Issues, Insights, and Recommendations

Krasniqi, Qendresa; Sury, Jonathan

While housing insecurity has intensified nationwide in the United States, its severe manifestations – such as homelessness – have worsened at a higher rate in rural areas. Conventional statistics aimed at measuring housing insecurity often fall short of capturing the diverse challenges experienced in rural America, where unconventional forms of precarious housing, such as living in cars, dilapidated structures, or doubled-up arrangements, are prevalent yet frequently overlooked.

In addition to visible homelessness, rural populations face high housing cost burdens, residential instability, evictions and other forced moves, crowding, and substandard-quality housing. Many rural households live in inadequate housing, with 30 percent of the nation’s homes lacking hot and cold piped water being in rural and small-town communities. The incidence of homes lacking plumbing on Native American lands is more than ten times the national level. While the burden of high housing costs is comparable between rural and urban households, the disparity becomes more pronounced when considering utility costs – a frequently overlooked aspect of housing insecurity.

All forms of housing insecurity affect communities of color disproportionally, especially Black households. In 2022, 24% of Black renters and 18% of Hispanic and Asian renters were behind on rent payments compared to 10% of their white counterparts, and 37% of all people experiencing homelessness in 2022 were Black, despite making up just 12% of the total U.S. population. Similarly, a high housing cost burden disproportionately affects renters and individuals with disabilities.

This report provides an overview of the documented links between housing insecurity and children's physical and mental health and educational outcomes. Factors include crowding, poor housing quality, instability, respiratory and other physical health conditions stemming from poor indoor air quality, and injury-causing structural deficiencies. Links have been documented between older housing and burns and falls among children. Similar links have been identified between housing insecurity and increased child and parental distress and mental disorders. Furthermore, an extensive body of research has linked exposure to lead paint with neurological damage in young children, continued cognitive impairments into adolescence, problems with impulsivity, and developmental disadvantages. Housing insecurity also has measurable effects on children’s educational outcomes, with factors such as crowding, frequent moves, housing tenure, and exposure to toxins playing pivotal roles.

Unaffordable and insecure housing leaves families more exposed and vulnerable to disasters, leaving them less equipped to handle costs associated with extensive repairs or rebuilding. The disadvantage compounds when considering the impact of substandard housing on diminished levels of disaster preparedness and disaster-related fatalities. This is especially the case for families living in mobile homes, which in many rural counties make up more than a third of all housing.

Housing insecurity lies at the core of disaster vulnerability for rural households. Consequently, it plays a crucial role in shaping the effectiveness of interventions aimed at enhancing disaster preparedness and resilience, particularly concerning child health, education, and food security. It is imperative to comprehensively incorporate housing insecurity considerations into the design of policies and programs related to these interventions, ensuring a holistic understanding of household vulnerability. To achieve this, it is essential to gather data and insights into various forms of rural housing insecurity that extend beyond visible homelessness and housing cost burdens.

To help prevent an increase in disaster-related housing insecurity in rural areas and incorporate housing insecurity in vulnerability assessments, the National Center for Disaster Preparedness has outlined several recommendations. These are described at greater length in the recommendations section at the end of the main document.