With Republican senators still blocking ameliorative action, millions face eviction after Dec. 31
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For many out-of-work Americans, the end of unemployment benefits is just around the corner if Congress doesn’t act, a failure that will slash $19 billion in income each month. Hungry people are lining up in droves at overwhelmed food banWith Republican senators still blocking ameliorative action, millions face eviction after Dec. 31
For many out-of-work Americans, the end of unemployment benefits is just around the corner if Congress doesn’t act, a failure that will slash $19 billion in income each month. Hungry people are lining up in droves at overwhelmed food banks, a situation that will inevitably swell without those benefits. And without an extension of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) national eviction moratorium past Dec. 31, the New Years’ gift millions of people could get is a notice to move their stuff into the street. Come year’s end, 6.7 million households—19 million Americans—will be at risk of immediate eviction, according to a report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition. In the coming month, the count could add up to far more than that. The U.S. Census Household Pulse Survey reported at the end of October that 9.9 million Americans were behind on rental or mortgage payments and not confident they could make their next payment on time. Across the nation, some families are being ordered to leave their homes despite the moratorium. Beyond the hardship of trying to find a new place to live in the midst of a pandemic and Pandemic Recession, a study in the Journal of Urban Health confirms the obvious: Mass evictions also mean a worsening of the coronavirus pandemic. Indeed, they already have. An Aspen Institute analysis and other studies show that people of color are disproportionately at risk. They are twice as likely to be renters and are more likely to earn lower incomes and be rental cost-burdened. Studies across the nation show that people of color, particularly Black and Latino people, constitute some 80% of people facing eviction. And they are more likely to be vulnerable to the virus. Read more