The Impact of Low-Income Housing Conditions on Residents’ Health

Introduction

Housing is more than shelter and a roof over people’s heads. A lot of people are familiar with the idea that a house is not automatically a home, but it is also more than just a structure. People take for granted the basics of their housing. Things like running water, up to code electrical, heat and air-conditioning units are basic things that are overlooked. In low-income areas these basic necessities are not always available. It is common in these areas for homes to have exposed electrical wires, lack of insulation, mold exposure, and a lack of needed upgrades. With these things being known it is important to figure out how they impact the people who live in these conditions. Some of these things have been proven to have an impact on people’s health but maybe not all of them together in a housing situation. There are many things we can look at from children to the elderly, access to healthcare, number of visits to the doctors’ offices or clinics. When looking at healthcare it is important to keep in mind that many people do not have access to healthcare because they cannot afford healthcare, so that measurement could be off.

Literature Review

There has been a lot of research done relating the environment that one lives in to their health problems. After reading previous studies I can assume that this study will support my hypothesis. Affordable and stable housing plays an important role in physical health issues. Mulroy and Ewalt (1996) argue that access to affordable housing is not simply a basic human need, but a social issue that directly influences family stability, economic opportunity, and overall well-being. Vega and Wallace (2016) expand on this argument by identifying affordable housing as an important part of community health, specifically with older adults who face compounded risks. Carr (2025) further explains how older adults experience the effects of housing inequality across the life course, showing that long-term issues with housing instability, environmental hazards, and socioeconomic disparities leads to poor physical and mental health outcomes later in their life.

Housing inequity is also closely tied to racial segregation and structural oppression, which are systematic issues faced by low-incomeindividuals. Crowell (2022) utilizes the framework of racial capitalism to explain how systematic residential segregation and rent exploitation disproportionately affect Black and Latino communities. These individuals are more likely to live in poorer neighborhoods, which usually means rundown houses. They also usually have limited access to healthcare and quality housing. These systematic inequalities lead to chronic stress and higher disease rates (Crowell 2022). Housing is therefore more than a location, it is a system of power, economic exploitation, and resource distribution.

Several studies highlight the impact of housing conditions and affordability on family and child health. Curtis, Corman, Noonan, and Reichman (2010) found that children’s health problems are closely connected to housing instability and overcrowding, and that poor child health can also impact a family’s housing situation through increased financial strain. On the otherhand, Pilkauskas, Michelmore, and Kovski (2024) explain that policies put in place reduced overcrowded living situations, housing costs, and poor living arrangements for low-income families. An example of this is the Child Tax Credit that was passed in 2021. Their findings show that housing-related health disparities are not inevitable but can be affected by social policy and economic structures.

It is important to look at the everyday life, but it is also good to look at tragedies. Things like hurricanes can also impact the housing and health of individuals for long periods of times after the tragedy has been resolved. Fussell and Lowe (2014) studied low-income parents displaced after Hurricane Katrina and found that loss of housing, even when temporary, increased rates of anxiety, depression, and trauma. Stewart (2003) similarly found that adolescents living in unstable, low-income environments faced increased emotional distress, substance use, and perceptions of family instability, which led to long-term mental health challenges. These kinds of changes and issues lead to many issues for individuals especially those who are more vulnerable.

These studies demonstrate that housing is not just a physical structure, but an important part of people’s overall health. The results of these research studies show strong evidence that low-income, unstable, poorly kept housing environments can produce physical, mental, and social health disparities for those living in them. In order to add to these previous results this study will aim to answer how the housing conditions in low-income areas impact the people living in them.

Theoretical Findings

Some social theoretical perspectives I have thought of for this study are social effects on the health model, systemic issues, the course of life. There have been prior studies and theories developed around these topics. It is already assumed that someone’s environment will impact their health whether it is immediate or long-term. This study will focus on their immediate home environment and not their overall environment. When talking about low-income individuals it is important to also look at systematic issues that may be making them low-income or how they became low-income. These other factors also do need to be considered when looking at the data. To tie both of those things together a person’s natural life course, culture and environment also has a lot of impact on someone’s health and the issues they may develop.

Methodology

There will be two parts to data collection for this study. One way will be to conduct in-depth interviews in a few different neighborhoods. The first part of the interview will be having the residents answer questions about their living conditions and the second part will be questions about the health conditions of the people living in the house. They will report on the problems with their homes, how long they have been going on for, and how they feel it effects their daily lives.  The second part of the sturdy will be inspections of the house. In addition to the self-reports given by the resident we will also look at the inspection report of each house to have a better understanding of the conditions and limit the problems with self-report surveys. There will be roughly 300 people from some of the South Dallas Neighborhoods. Houses will be randomly selected from a list of all addresses in all of the South Dallas suburbs. Everybody in the individual homes will be interviewed. The data will then be analyzed to see how the conditions of each home affects everybody in the house. The things we will look at are age, preexisting conditions, how much time is spent in the house, and total house income. This will help us compare the housing conditions and health of the people living in the house and understand if there is a correlation. Since the data is all qualitative, the test we will run for our statistics is the chi-square test.

Expected Findings

I expect that poorer living conditions will lead to more health problems. Two problems I think that will mess up these results is people not being able to see a doctor for health problems and some people may have mental health problems and not physical health problems. These are things we can consider when interviewing participants and analyzing data. Overall, I think the findings will support my hypothesis.

Ethics

As with all research studies there are ethical concerns. With this specific study there is a concern with exploitation. The low-income population is a vulnerable population and using them as subjects in a study can turn exploitative very fast. In order to limit these ethical issues, we will offer them a small incentive to participate but not enough to make them feel like they cannot turn it down. During the study we will make sure that the participants are properly informed during each step of the interview and inspection process. They will also be informed that they do not have to answer any questions if they feel uncomfortable with any specific question. After the study has been conducted, each participant will be offered the opportunity to debrief with someone about their experience if they want to. I think that the benefits of this study outweigh the risks and that it can be done without ethical concerns.

Conclusion

The purpose of this study is to have a better understanding of how individuals home environment and housing conditions effects their health. This study is important to add to prior research and knowledge to have a better understanding to help these people moving forward. People like the participants in this study are a vulnerable population and are facing problems bigger than they can handle. The effects of these living conditions also affect their peers, others around them who may not live in low-income areas, and the whole society. It is a lot bigger than just them and they usually need help from others outside of their environment. A lot of people do not know the serious problems with these situations but with this study we aim to help educate others and provide help. Once we educate the public and gain more support to help, we can help fix some of these problems and improve the living quality for all of society.

References

Carr, Deborah. 2025. “The Impact of Cumulative Inequities on Older Adult Health.” 49(1), 1–7.

Crowell, Amber R. 2022. “Renting under racial capitalism: residential segregation and rent exploitation in the United States.” 42(2), 95–118.

Curtis, Marah A., Hope Corman, Kelly Noonan, and Nancy E. Reichman. 2010. “Effects of child health on housing in the urban U.S.” 71(12), 2049–2056.

Fussell, Elizabeth, and Sarah R. Lowe. 2014. “The impact of housing displacement on the mental health of low-income parents after Hurricane Katrina.” 113, 137–144

Mulroy, Elizabeth A., and Patricia L. Ewalt. 1996. “Affordable Housing: A Basic Need and a Social Issue.” 41(3), 245–249.

Pilkauskas, Natasha V., Katherine Michelmore, and Nicole Kovski. 2024. “The Effects of the 2021 Child Tax Credit on Housing Affordability and the Living Arrangements of Families With Low Incomes.” 61(4), 1069–1096.

Stewart, Chris. 2003. “A Descriptive Longitudinal Study of Perceived Family Stability and Substance Use with Low Income African-American Adolescents.” 2(2), 1–15.

Vega, William A., and Steven P. Wallace. 2016. “Affordable Housing: A Key Lever to Community Health for Older Americans.” 106(4), 635–636.