How do renters survive unaffordability? Household-level impacts of rent burden in Los Angeles

Abstract

ABSTRACT Prior research shows that households reduce consumption of basic necessities in response to an increasing rent burden. However, questions remain regarding the interrelated, cumulative tactics renters use to survive amidst declining affordability. We address these critical questions by leveraging data from a door to door household survey in South and Central Los Angeles. First, we find that rent-burdened households (those paying over 30% of their income on rent) were more likely to reduce consumption and that adjustments in many consumption categories had persisted for years. Second, rent-burdened households undertook impactful functional adjustments, including working more hours and altering their homes to accommodate more residents. Severely rent-burdened households were 10.4 percentage points more likely to accommodate additional residents than those paying between 30 and 50% of income toward rent. Finally, we find that many households made both functional adjustments and consumption cutbacks simultaneously, which demonstrates the cumulative hardships caused by housing unaffordability.