MassBudget analyst La-Brina Almeida co-authored a groundbreaking report, “Housing Justice Beyond the Emergency: An Analysis of Racial Inequity in Eviction Filings Across Massachusetts,” in collaboration with local partners, Homes for All Massachusetts. Homes for All Massachusetts and Massachusetts Institute of Technology hosted a powerful webinar to highlight its release, in which a panel of experts spoke about the report’s findings, the experiences of facing housing instability and eviction, and the public health implications of this new research. MassBudget’s La-Brina Almeida also served as a panelist. A description of the report and a full recording of the webinar can be viewed below.
“The impacts of the pandemic have been disproportionately felt in communities of color; they experienced higher rates of COVID infection, job loss, hospitalization, and death than white residents. Among other findings, this new report reveals similar racialized patterns in eviction filings: nearly twice as many evictions were filed in Massachusetts communities of color, especially Black and Latinx neighborhoods, during the pandemic. The report also finds that concentrated ownership by corporate landlords is strongly associated with higher eviction filing rates, and that single mothers experienced higher eviction filing rates.”