Housing and mental health inequalities during Covid-19

The Role of Income and Housing Support Measures

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6427668
AutoresAng Li (0000-0002-6269-6432, The University of Melbourne, autor de correspondencia), Emma Baker (0000-0002-9390-0491, The University of Adelaide), Rebecca Bentley (0000-0003-3334-7353, The University of Melbourne)
Año2024
Volumen40
Número6
Páginas1379-1400
Fecha de publicación2024-06-28
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaHousing Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0267-3037 • E-ISSN: 1466-1810
EditorialTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02673037.2024.2366961
OpenAlexW4400126756
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas41

The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted people's mental health and wellbeing. Using a national dataset of >11,000 Australians collected before and during the first two years of the pandemic, this study examines housing and mental health effects of COVID-19, and the extent to which access to government income support (social security measures, crisis payments and wage subsidy), early superannuation withdrawal, mortgage and rent relief, and tenant eviction moratoriums offered protection. Results show that the mental health gap between private rental and more secure housing tenures and between good- and poor-quality housing widened during the pandemic. Government income support provided a social safety net and was important in buffering housing instability especially when strong eviction moratoriums were lacking. Mortgage relief measures were associated significantly lower risks of housing affordability stress. Strong eviction moratoriums were effective in reducing risks of residential instability and forced moves. The pandemic exposed health vulnerabilities generated from people's housing circumstances, reinforcing the need for public policies to address these social inequities to improve health and wellbeing. Findings emphasise the importance of tenure security, housing quality and enforcement of rental market interventions during disasters and identify the benefits of policies providing income support and strong eviction protection

2019-20 coronavirus outbreak · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Demographic economics · Economic inequality · Economics · Inequality · Mental health · Psychiatry · Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 · Homelessness and Social Issues · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Mathematics · Medicine · Psychology · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies · Virology