Black Women Twice as Likely as White Men to Be Behind on Rent or Mortgage Payments

As Eviction Deadline Looms, Black, Non-Hispanic Women Are Over Two Times More Likely Than White, Non-Hispanic Men to Be Behind on Rent or Mortgage Payments

(Washington, D.C. - December 16, 2020) As expiration deadlines near for the emergency extended unemployment benefits under the CARES Act (on December 26) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's temporary halt on many evictions (on December 31), a new National Women's Law Center analysis finds grave racial and gender disparities in who is facing housing, food, and income shortages--with those households with children facing the greatest risk.

In an analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey measuring the social and economic impact of COVID-19 on households, the Law Center found:

• Among renters, more than three in ten Black, non-Hispanic women (30.4%) reported being behind on their rent payment. This makes them over two times more likely than white, non-Hispanic men (13.4%) or white, non-Hispanic women (14.1%) to be behind on their rent. Latinas (18.3%) and Asian, non-Hispanic women (16.1%) were also more likely than white, nonHispanic men or women to report not being current on rent payments.
• Among homeowners with mortgages, Latinas (19.1%), Black, non-Hispanic women (14.5%), and Asian, non-Hispanic women (14.4%) were all over two times more likely than white, non-Hispanic men (6.7%) to be behind on their mortgage payment.
• Among renters with children in the household, nearly two in five Black, non-Hispanic women (39.1%) reported being behind on their rent payment. By comparison, among renters with children in the household, about one-quarter of Latinas (25.1%) and white, non-Hispanic men (24.7%), along with nearly one in four white, non-Hispanic women (23.8%), reported being behind on their rent payment.
• Among homeowners with mortgages with children in the household, more than one in five Latinas (20.8%) reported being behind on their mortgage payment. More than one in six Asian, non-Hispanic women (17.7%) and Black, non-Hispanic women (17.0%) homeowners in households with children reported being behind on their mortgage, compared to 7.6% of white, non-Hispanic men and 9.7% of white, non-Hispanic women homeowners with children in the household.

The full analysis--including data on food security and loss of income--can be found here.

The National Women's Law Center fights for gender justice - in the courts, in public policy, and in our society - working across the issues that are central to the lives of women and girls. We use the law in all its forms to change culture and drive solutions to the gender inequity that shapes our society and to break down the barriers that harm all of us - especially those who face multiple forms of discrimination, including women of color, LGBTQ people, and low-income women and families. For more than 45 years, we have been on the leading edge of every major legal and policy victory for women. Find out more at NWLC.org.</p