The 2021 edition of the American Family Survey is out, and it has lots of data about the state of the American family. None of it struck me as super noteworthy, though, until I got to this:
Among all income groups, there was a sharp drop in families experiencing an economic crisis during both pandemic years. In other words, the gigantic aid bills worked.
Among other things, this is yet more evidence for why the end of the eviction moratorium doesn't seem to have been a big deal. Low-income families, who are the ones most vulnerable to eviction, have been better off over the past two years than they were pre-pandemic. This means they've mostly kept up with their rent and aren't in any more danger of being evicted than ever. This jibes with the latest Household Pulse Survey, which was released a few days ago:
There was a slight uptick in rent anxiety in the early September survey, but it was just a blip. In the late September survey, things ticked back down to normal.
The graph of confidence in ability to meet rent is a repeat, and I have the same caveat. Without some significant variation in the response you do not know that it is affected by economic events at all. You really need to see what the response was during previous recessions, such as 2008-9. Kevin sometimes seems to get the idea of control, sometimes not.
Yep, agree and have the same initial reaction: this chart is meaningless, and can't be used for the purposes it's been tried for here.
Uh, still seems elevated to me, definitely above you trendline.
Nope. Your ignoring the trendline.
The nonexistent eviction crisis has been a loss for DNC dialect.
Plenty of articles refer to the 15-17% rent in arrears rate as being 3 times higher than pre-pandemic. Sources appear to be 2017 Census survey data and University tracking projects.
Kevin appears misguided on this one.