Research & Insights
Research, data analysis, and case studies examining housing instability, income stagnation, and pathways to economic opportunity.
Housing instability—encompassing rent burden, overcrowding, frequent moves, and homelessness—remains a persistent barrier to economic mobility for working families.
Approximately 44 million households rent their homes in the United States, representing roughly 36% of all households.
Over half of renters spend more than 30% of their income on housing, with significant portions exceeding 50%—the threshold for severe cost burden.
Formal eviction filings exceed 2.5 million annually, with substantially higher rates of informal displacement affecting low-income communities.
Visualizing the relationship between housing costs, income, and economic stability.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, HUD, Bureau of Labor Statistics
Housing cost burden and income stagnation create a structural trap. When housing costs consume over 50% of income, households have insufficient resources for savings, education, or emergency needs—reducing economic mobility and increasing vulnerability to crisis.
This analysis informed our Economic Mobility Housing Stability Program (EMHSP), which addresses both housing cost burden and income advancement simultaneously.
View Capital ProgramsDespite productivity gains, wage growth for working and middle-class households has stagnated for decades, creating structural barriers to economic mobility.
Median hourly wages have remained essentially flat in real terms since the 1970s for non-college-educated workers, while productivity has increased substantially.
The share of wealth held by the bottom 50% of households has declined from approximately 3% in 1980 to under 1% today, while upper-tier wealth has grown.
As income rises, eligibility for means-tested benefits phases out faster than wage increases, creating effective marginal tax rates that discourage advancement.
The gap between median home prices and median household income has widened dramatically, making homeownership an unreachable goal for many working families.
Work alone is insufficient.
Full-time employment at minimum wage falls short of the income needed for housing stability in most U.S. metros.
Education gains alone are insufficient.
Even college degree attainment has diminishing returns as degree requirements expand without commensurate wage increases.
Systemic barriers require systemic responses.
Individual-level interventions must be paired with structural changes to housing, benefits, and labor markets.
Documented outcomes from coordinated intervention programs demonstrating pathways from housing instability to sustained economic mobility.
Outcome without intervention: Likely eviction, doubled displacement costs, child's school transfer, potential job loss.
18-month outcome: Stable housing, 40% income increase, child in consistent school, savings account established.
Outcome without intervention: Housing loss, medical debt accumulation, long-term poverty trap.
18-month outcome: Housed, employed in healthcare administration, benefits stabilized, health improving.
Comprehensive reports examining economic mobility patterns, program outcomes, and policy implications.
Five-year study tracking program participants through housing stabilization, income advancement, and sustained independence phases.
Analysis of bidirectional relationship between housing instability and employment, with policy recommendations.
Examination of means-tested benefit phase-out rates and their effect on marginal income decisions.
For access to complete research reports and data packages, please submit a request. Reports are provided to institutional partners and qualified researchers.