Is the single greatest predictor of an eviction the presence of a child?
Friday, March 5, 2021
By Lisa Freedland
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YES
The presence of children in a household is the single greatest predictor of eviction, according to a study by Harvard researchers.
The 2016 study looked at many variables that may factor into evictions of a family, including the race of tenants, marital status, education level and more. Of these, the number of children in a household was found to be the most significant factor in predicting an eviction, more so than “race, gender, or class”-related factors.
A separate 2015 study concluded that housing eviction likely played a large role in the “reproduction of poverty” for those who had experienced eviction as a child.
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