The Flipside of Housing Choice: Who Is Forced to Move?
Open Access
- Author:
- Siskar, Thomas
- Graduate Program:
- Sociology
- Degree:
- Master of Arts
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- December 03, 2019
- Committee Members:
- John Iceland, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Barrett Lee, Committee Member
Brian Thiede, Committee Member - Keywords:
- residential mobility
forced moves
eviction
foreclosure
displacement - Abstract:
- Forced residential mobility has received an uptick in scholarly analysis and public attention in the aftermath of the 2008 foreclosure crisis. Lately, much political debate has been centered on the lack of affordable housing in American cities. Research on the foreclosure crisis and evictions have revealed disparities in rates of forced moves between whites and minorities, however these are only specific types of forced moves. The purpose of this paper is to investigate, under a broad definition of forced moves (including eviction, foreclosure, private displacement, government displacement, and disaster-caused displacement) the household level predictors that influence the likelihood a person will be forced to move. I use the 2013 American Housing Survey, administered by the United States Census Bureau, to test four explanations of forced mobility and highlight differences in predictors between homeowners and renters with a nationally representative sample. I find that homeownership and at least some college completion increase residential stability, while the presence of a disabled person or a child increases the odds that a household will be forced to move. Homeowners have higher odds of forced mobility if they have a disabled person in the household, and renters if they have children. Across racial groups I do not find differences in overall forced moves. Presence of a disabled person is also a significant predictor of eviction, foreclosure and government displacement, while presence of a child is a predictor of private or government displacement. These results indicate vulnerable households are left exposed to displacement risks and provide support for interventions at the family level to improve residential stability.