Housing Insecurity
The link between safe, stable housing and health is well established. Studies have shown that improving housing can improve a community’s overall health.1 However, some people are not certain that they will be able to keep their current house or apartment because of income insecurity or other concerns.
Findings in Santa Barbara County
Measure
Housing insecurity was measured by response to the following question: “Are you worried that in the next 2 months, you may not have stable housing?”
Table 20. Percentage of Adults Reporting Housing Insecurity
| 2016 Santa Barbara
BRFSS | California* | Health People 2020
Target |
|---|
|
%(95% CI) |
% (95% CI) |
|---|
| Overall |
10.7 (8.5–13.0) |
NA |
|---|
| Male |
12.6 (8.9–16.3) |
NA |
|---|
| Female |
9.0 (6.4–11.5) |
NA |
|---|
|
|
|
None** |
|---|
| Hispanic |
18.2 (13.4–23.0) |
NA |
|---|
| Non-Hispanic White |
6.9 (4.3–9.4) |
NA |
|---|
| Other |
6.2 (2.0–10.5) |
NA |
|---|
*2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
**There is no target in HP 2020 that corresponds to the question above.
Figure 63. Percentage of Adults Reporting Housing Insecurity in Santa Barbara County, by Sex and Age
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Figure 64. Percentage of Adults Reporting Housing Insecurity in Santa Barbara County by Race/Ethnicity, Educational Attainment, and Income
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Health Disparities
Hispanics and men have the highest risk of housing insecurity, along with people in the lowest income and education levels.
Figure 65. Percentage of Santa Barbara County Residents Worried They May Not Have Stable Housing, by County Subregion
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Factors and Health Outcomes Associated With Housing Insecurity
Figure 66 presents various factors and health outcomes associated with housing insecurity. It compares people who report housing insecurity with all adults in the Santa Barbara County survey and Californians as a whole.
Figure 66. Health and Risk Factors of Adults in Santa Barbara County Who Have Insecure Housing (10.7%), Compared With All Santa Barbara County Adults and Californians* as a Whole
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*Data are not available for California for all indicators
As with many other health indicators, people who do not have secure housing are also more likely to have only fair or even poor health than others in Santa Barbara County and California. They are less likely to have completed a high school degree. A larger percentage of them experienced food insecurity and mental health issues during the previous month. Finally, more people with housing insecurity are uninsured, lack a regular health care provider, and report that cost is a barrier to health care, compared with Santa Barbara County and California as a whole.
Key Opportunities for Population Health Improvement
What Can Businesses Do
What Healthcare Providers Can Do
What Individuals Can Do
1 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2016). Healthy People 2020. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from https://www.healthypeople.gov
Thomson, H., Thomas, S., Sellstrom, E., & Petticrew, M. (2013). Housing improvements for health and associated socio-economic outcomes. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2, Art. No. CD008657.
