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Women of Color Particularly Impacted by Current Market Conditions

The National Women’s Law Center has released a new report with the collaboration of the Insight Center and Groundwork Collaborative called The Roots of Discrimination Housing Policy: Moving Toward Gender Justice in Our Economy, which explores the “inextricable” links between housing justice and gender justice and outlines a few solutions to advance the concept of housing as a public good. 

This report takes advantage of the Consumer Price Index, which came out Aug. 10, finding that prices went up 8.5% year-over-year in July while rent rose 6.3% over the same period of time, the highest rate in over 35 years. 

“Women have always taken on the heaviest burden of a socioeconomic system that was designed to profit from their underpaid and undervalued labor,” said Fatima Goss Graves, President and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center. “In this powerful collaboration, my colleagues excavate the harmful housing policy decisions that litter our history and created the mess we face today. And, importantly, this paper reminds us of the better policy choices and sensible solutions that can put us on a path to a more equitable tomorrow.” 

The extensive, 48-page report, examines the current market conditions to find its effect on women of color. 

According to the report, women—particularly women of color—were already more likely than white non-Hispanic men to spend the majority of their income on housing before the pandemic. Black and Latina women have consistently been more likely than white, non-Hispanic men to be behind on rent and mortgage payments throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Stable housing is an essential part of families’ economic security —and a critical part of a healthy, sustainable economy,” said Dr. Rakeen Mabud, Chief Economist and Managing Director of Policy and Research at Groundwork. “Policymakers must use every available tool to address the acute crisis that so many women and families are facing today.” 

Andrea Flynn, senior director at the Insight Center added, “Safe, accessible, and affordable housing must be invested in not as a commodity, but as a public good. Housing shapes opportunities and outcomes related to employment, education, health, transportation, caregiving, and overall well being across generations. A safe home, in a community full of opportunity, is a prerequisite to human flourishing and economic security.” 

Click here to view the report in its entirety. 

About Author: Kyle G. Horst

Kyle Horst
Kyle G. Horst is a reporter for DS News and MReport. A graduate of the University of Texas at Tyler, he has worked for a number of daily, weekly, and monthly publications in South Dakota and Texas. With more than 10 years of experience in community journalism, he has won a number of state, national, and international awards for his writing and photography. He most recently worked as editor of Community Impact Newspaper covering a number of Dallas-Ft. Worth communities on a hyperlocal level. Contact Kyle G. at [email protected].
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