Pushed Out: Displacement Today and Lasting Impacts

Displacement Video Sources

Mobility

• A typical American moves over 11 times in their lifetime. Source: Chalabi, Mona (2013). “How Many Times Does the Average Person Move?”, FiveThirtyEight.

Eviction Epidemic

• Millions of renters are facing evictions. Source: Marr, Taylor (2016). “Millions of Renters Face Evictions: Why Today’s Housing Market is Partially to Blame”, Redfin. (Note: evictions not filed through courts are not counted in the study.)
• Hispanic and black renters experience evictions in greater numbers than white renters (Milwaukee study). Source: Desmond, Matthew and Tracey Shollenberger (2015). “Forced Displacement from Rental Housing: Prevalence and Neighborhood Consequences.”

Health Impacts

• Displacement can lead to stress and depression. The year following an eviction, mothers are 20 percent more likely to report depression than their peers. At least two years after their eviction, mothers were still experiencing significantly higher rates of depression. Source: Desmond, Matthew and Rachel Tolbert Kimbro (2015). “Eviction’s Fallout: Housing, Hardship, and Health.”
• Displacement can have myriad negative health impacts on children. “Outcomes identified in association with frequent moves included: higher levels of behavioral and emotional problems; increased teenage pregnancy rates; accelerated initiation of illicit drug use; adolescent depression; and reduced continuity of healthcare.” Source:  Jelleyman, Tim and Nicholas Spencer (2008). “Residential mobility in childhood and health outcomes: a systematic review.”

Impacts of Moves on Kids

• Even when kids don’t switch schools, moving around can be disruptive for academic performance. Source: Cohen, Rebecca and Keith Wardrip (2011). “Should I Stay or Should I Go? Exploring the Effects of Housing Instability and Mobility on Children.”

Neighborhood Effects

• When low-income families have to leave their homes, they are likely to move to lower-income neighborhoods. Source: Ding, Lei, Jackelyn Hwang, and Eileen Divringi (2015). “Gentrification and Residential Mobility in Philadelphia.”
• Displacement to worse-off neighborhoods can intensify poverty conditions and inhibit economic mobility. Research from Philadelphia shows that moves to worse-off neighborhoods can lead to further long-term financial strain, as shown by declining credit scores for families making these moves. Source: Ding, Lei and Jackelyn Hwang (2016). “The Consequences of Gentrification: A Focus on Residents’ Financial Health in Philadelphia.”
• Living in a high poverty under-resourced neighborhood has been shown to lower children’s test scores and their earnings in adulthood. Source: Chetty, Raj and Nathaniel Hendren (2016). “The Impacts of Neighborhoods on Intergenerational Mobility I: Childhood Exposure Effects.”
• Zip code may be more important than genetic code for life expectancy. See:
  • Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (2015). “Short Distances to Large Gaps in Health.” (Life expectancy city maps).
  • The California Endowment Building Healthy Communities Initiative (2016). “A Tale of Two Zip Codes.” (Explainer video).

Community Power

• “Residents who are dispersed from other members of their community may have less political power as voting blocs are diluted and communities become less organized, inhibiting their ability to advocate for needed changes.” Source: Causa Justa Just Cause (2014). “Development without Displacement: Resisting Gentrification in the Bay Area.” (See additional sources cited in report.)

No One-Size-Fits-All Solutions

• Protection of residents, production of affordable housing, and preservation of existing affordable housing stock are all key pieces of preventing displacement. See our Investment without Displacement workshop series for more information.

Additional Resources

• Zuk, Miriam, Ariel Bierbaum, Karen Chapple, Karolina Gorska, and Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris (2017). "Gentrification, Displacement, and the Role of Public Investment." 
• Marcus, Justine and Miriam Zuk (2017). “Displacement in San Mateo County, California: Consequences for Housing, Neighborhoods, Quality of Life, and Health.”
• Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative (BARHII) (2016). “Displacement Brief: Housing Insecurity And Displacement In The Bay Area.”
• Prevention Institute (2017). “Healthy Development without Displacement: Realizing the Vision of Healthy Communities for All.”  

This video was made in collaboration with the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank 
and ​the Great Communities Collaborative, an initiative of the San Francisco Foundation.
Take a look at the gentrification and displacement page on the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank's site.