Neighborhood-level housing affordability and maternal depression

Abstract

Housing affordability is a growing public health crisis, with lower-income families disproportionately affected. At the individual-level, measures of housing affordability have been linked to maternal mental health, but less is known about how neighborhood-level characteristics influence wellbeing in the perinatal period. Using data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, which follows a national cohort of children born between 1998 and 2000 in United States cities and their parents, we examined associations between neighborhood-level housing affordability and maternal depression in the postpartum year. Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic mothers were overrepresented among those living in rent-burdened neighborhoods. Living in a rent-burdened neighborhood was associated with a 3-percentage-point increase in the risk of maternal depression in the postpartum year, even after adjusting for individual and other neighborhood-level covariates. Individual-level housing hardships associated with maternal depression included difficulty paying rent, staying in temporary housing, and having trouble paying utilities. Policies that address neighborhood-level affordability may have spillover benefits for lowering the risk of depression and reducing disparities in maternal mental health.