The Family Housing Fund and Wilder Research published an analysis of unemployment claims since March and pre-existing housing cost burden to identify neighborhoods hardest hit by pandemic-related unemployment. The report found that households with children were especially at-risk of housing instability, as 51% reported having at least one adult lose employment income since the pandemic hit Minnesota.
In the east metro, the zip codes hardest hit by the twin crises of unemployment and housing cost burden are in central and eastern Saint Paul: 55104 (St. Paul: Midway, Frogtown, Union Park), 55106 (St. Paul: Dayton’s Bluff, Payne-Phalen), 55119 (St. Paul: Battle Creek – Highwood), and 55117 (St. Paul: North End, Thomas-Dale). In the west metro, central Minneapolis neighborhoods and several suburban communities have been hardest hit: 55411 (Minneapolis: Near North), 55408 (Minneapolis: Lyndale), 55443 (Brooklyn Park), and 55303 (Anoka). Other suburban areas highly impacted by both unemployment and high housing costs relative to income include 55379 (Shakopee), 55337 (Burnsville), and 55124 (Apple Valley).
The report aims to inform public assistance policies and practices on the local, state, and federal levels. FHFund and Wilder Research recommend prioritizing these neighborhoods, families with children, and workers in hard-hit industries (such as service and hospitality) when distributing housing assistance funds. They also recommend extending the federal unemployment benefit and pairing a federal eviction moratorium with federal housing assistance.
View the report here: https://www.fhfund.org/report/housing-and-unemployment-hardest-hit/
For more information, contact: Karyssa Scheck, Grants and Special Projects Manager, karyssa@fhfund.org, (612) 274-7693
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