New Podcast Episode on the Impact of Rising Housing Costs on Teachers
|
|
|
|
| This month, the campaign released a new podcast episode, “The Growing Gap Between Teacher Pay and Housing Costs.” The episode, hosted by Julie Walker, features a discussion with Dr. Heather Peske, President of the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ). Dr. Peske discusses a recent report from NCTQ, “Priced Out: The Growing Challenge of Teacher Pay and Housing Costs,” which examines the disparity between housing costs and teacher salaries. Analysis of this issue reveals that nationwide teachers across a wide range of educational backgrounds and experiences are struggling with housing costs.
In a study examining 72 large, urban school districts, NCTQ found that housing costs between 2019 and 2025 have outpaced teachers’ salary growth, with rental costs increasing by 51% on average and teachers’ salaries only growing by about 24%. The nationwide shortage of affordable housing contributes to an increase in teacher turnover, higher vacancy rates, and districts having a harder time keeping experienced teachers. As teachers are priced out of school districts, schools face higher turnover rates, and students are deprived of consistent, high-quality, and effective education. |
|
| The episode highlights the disproportionate impact of housing affordability on teachers of color and school employees earning low wages who are more likely to be rent burdened. While NCTQ’s issue brief focuses on educator pay, the conversation stresses that school staff at every income level must be able to afford stable and accessible housing in the communities they serve. The discussion also emphasizes the urgent need for targeted support for teachers in the form of subsidized housing options, low interest home loans, and the prioritization of teacher pay in school budget planning. These changes, along with larger policy changes that increase affordable housing stock and strengthen existing housing programs are crucial to ensuring the needs of educators, school staff, and their communities are fully met.
The National Council on Teacher Quality is a member of the campaign Roundtable.
Episodes of the Opportunity Starts at Home Podcast are available on Spotify, Apple, and Soundcloud. |
|
Children’s HealthWatch Releases Article on the Intersection of Household Hardship and Health
|
|
|
|
| Children’s HealthWatch, a campaign Steering Committee member, shared a recent APJM Focus article, “Hardship-Free Households Are Associated With Optimal Caregiver and Child Health.” The article explores how the absence of material hardships among families with low incomes impacts child health, healthcare utilization, and caregiver health outcomes. Material hardships, including housing instability, energy insecurity, food instability, and healthcare hardship, result from tradeoffs households with low incomes make for basic needs. The findings are based on an ongoing, repeat cross-sectional research study conducted at medical centers in five U.S. cities: Baltimore, Boston, Little Rock, Minneapolis, and Philadelphia. The authors find that low-income households experiencing fewer material hardships report better physical, developmental, and behavioral health outcomes among both children and caregivers. |
|
| The authors analyzed data from an ongoing research study conducted by Children’s HealthWatch. The study monitors the impact of economic conditions and public policies on the health and well-being of young children and families with low incomes seeking care in safety-net hospitals, which predominantly serve low-income and publicly insured patients. Four measures of material hardship, housing instability, household food security, energy insecurity, and healthcare hardship, were assessed to create a combined scale of hardships experienced.
Based on the data, the authors find that households experiencing little to no hardship tend to have better health outcomes and healthcare utilization compared to families facing multiple hardships. Caregiver health and depressive symptoms were especially impacted by hardship, suggesting that caregivers may act as buffers for their children—prioritizing their children’s needs over their own when resources are limited.
The authors note that participation in programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and subsidized housing differed by less than 9% between hardship-free households and those facing two or more hardships. This indicates that, while essential, current safety-net programs may lack the capacity to fully mitigate the health effects of material hardship. They attribute these limitations to factors including insufficient funding, structural barriers, and restrictive policies that limit access and outreach. The authors also identify the lack of adequate income to support families as the primary driver of material hardship. They advocate prioritizing policies that provide unrestricted cash transfers, such as the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit, as effective tools to reduce hardship and improve both short- and long-term health outcomes. These cash supports are seen as most impactful when combined with existing public assistance programs.
The article concludes by endorsing comprehensive strategies for preventing hardship, rather than focusing solely on families already experiencing multiple hardships. The authors call for more research into the strengths of hardship-free households and stress the importance of understanding how programs and services can effectively alleviate hardship. Such research could inform the design of public policies and investments aimed at improving the material wellbeing of low-income households. |
|
Take Action Article from the Joint Center for Housing Studies Examines Residual Income Cost Burden on Renters
|
|
|
|
| The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University recently published a paper, “The Rent Eats More: Residual Income Housing Cost Burdens from 2019–2023” exploring the impact of rising housing costs on renter households’ income. The study uses residual income—the income left after paying rent—to assess how many households fall short of a modest standard of living. The authors argue that utilizing a residual income measure compliments traditional housing cost burden measures which do not account for whether households have enough money after paying rent to meet all other expenses. It also explores policy options to reduce these residual income burdens. |
|
| The paper uses data from the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator and the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to calculate residual income cost burdens. Based on these calculations, the authors find that financial pressure on renters has increased since 2019. In 2023, nearly two-thirds (65%) of working-age renter households were cost burdened by residual income standards. On average, renters had $2,000 less left after expenses in 2023 than in 2019, largely due to rising cost of living. The report highlights how increasing housing and living expenses are pushing low-income renters further from achieving a modest standard of living. Many are forced to cut back on essential needs, like food or healthcare, or take on debt to cover basic expenses. Both options can have critical consequences for the mental, physical, and financial well-being of renters.
Through measuring residual income, the authors identified an additional 5.3 million renter households burdened by residual income but not captured under traditional housing burden metrics. Additionally, unlike traditional housing cost burden metrics, rural and non-metropolitan counties were found to have among the highest residual income burden rates. Both findings expand the commonly understood scope and geography of housing unaffordability in America.
The authors conclude by recommending the expansion of affordable housing stock, housing subsidies, and introduction of flexible and generous income supports to enable households to afford the many costs they face. They argue that addressing the full scope of affordability challenges through targeted policy action is key to reducing housing affordability burdens for renters nationwide. |
|
Child Psychiatry & Human Development Journal Examines Housing Hardship and Subsequent Behavior Problems Among Children
|
|
|
|
| The Child Psychiatry & Human Development journal published a recent article, “Housing hardship and child behavior problems from early childhood to adolescence,” exploring how housing hardship affects child behavior problems from early childhood into adolescence. The findings are drawn from a large longitudinal cohort survey of households with children in major U.S. cities. The authors find that housing hardships, including missed rent or mortgage payments, were associated with elevated child behavioral problems like depression, disruptive behaviors, and withdrawal. The article provides an overview of how housing affordability contributes to short- and long-term behavioral patterns and recommends expansion of affordable housing resources to promote child well-being and behavioral health.
The authors analyzed data from a multi-year qualitative study, the Future of Families (formerly “Fragile Families”) and Child Well-Being Study (FFCW). The FFCW followed a cohort of nearly 5,000 children, born in large U.S. cities between 1998 and 2000, until the study concluded in 2024. Utilizing survey responses and interviews from the FFCW study, the authors compared two types of child behavior problems—internalizing and externalizing—to missed housing payments. Internalizing behaviors refer to anxious, withdrawn, or depressed behaviors. Externalizing behaviors refer to aggressive, disruptive, or defiant behaviors. These behaviors were reported in the study by mothers who took part in yearly interviews about child behavior.
Based on these data, the authors found that missed rent or mortgage payments were associated with elevated internalizing and externalizing behavior problems among children. Internalizing behaviors were predicted by earlier missed payments or housing hardship, while externalizing behaviors were predicted by concurrent missed payments. The authors highlight how the inability to afford housing impacts children’s behavior problems in nuanced ways across development, identifying the age of five as an important period for the relationship between housing and internalizing behaviors. Missed payments at age 5 were associated with subsequent internalizing behaviors into adolescence. Given that age 5 is when most children in the U.S. start formal schooling, lack of housing stability and consistency in the home environment through the transition to kindergarten may suggest increased behavioral vulnerability for children during this period.
The authors also identify parenting stress as a strong and consistent predictor of both internalizing and externalizing problems for all ages. Parental reactions to financial strain can trigger disruptive or destructive reactions from children. Elevated levels of parenting stress from financial and housing instability can increase children’s risks for behavioral problems. Further, as children age, they may be more aware of financial struggles within the household and thus more profoundly affected by the stressors their parents face.
The authors emphasize that without housing stability, children are at greater risk for behavioral problems. The article calls for increased investment in resources like screening for social determinants of health in schools, improvements to existing public housing, housing subsidies, and increased affordable housing supply to identify and ease the burden of housing costs on families with children. By stabilizing housing by age 5, lasting improvements can be made toward the reduction of internalizing behaviors. The article concludes by reiterating the need for affordable housing expansion to support child well-being and behavioral health. |
|
| Are you a part of a national organization interested in cross-sector partnership? Join representatives from over 130 multi-sector organizations, including housing, education, healthcare, civil rights, anti-poverty, seniors, faith-based, anti-hunger, veterans, LGBTQIA+, and more on the campaign’s Roundtable. If you are interested in the Roundtable, please fill out our interest form and and feel free to share it with other national organizations that may want to get involved. |
|
|
Fact of the Month: In Los Angeles County, immigrant tenants report lost wages and high rental debt during ongoing ICE workplace and community raids
|
|
|
