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As Congress begins considering a new relief package, likely the last before the election, emerging data show that a large and growing number of households are struggling to afford food and that millions of households are behind on rent, raising the specter that evictions could begin to spike as various federal, state, and local moratoriums are lifted.
The next package should both extend the relief measures that are working but are slated to end well before the crisis abates and address the shortcomings and missing elements in the relief efforts to date.
Hardship, joblessness, and the health impacts of the pandemic itself are widespread, but they are particularly prevalent among Black, Latino, Indigenous, and immigrant households.These disproportionate impacts reflect harsh inequities – often stemming from structural racism – in education, employment, housing, and health care.
New data show that tens of millions of people are out of work and struggling to afford food and pay the rent. And the impacts on children are especially large.
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Hardship is high among families for varied reasons. The next relief package should be robust enough, and last long enough, to ensure that families can make ends meet and are ready to re-engage the economy fully when it is safe to do so.
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