Cutting Rental Assistance Is Harmful for Women, LGBTQIA+ People, and Families

This effort paid off—even as low-income renters struggled with historically high rents and severe housing cost burdens,2 fewer households experienced homelessness.3 These resources, however, were never sufficient to address the underlying causes of the affordable housing and homelessness crises: the severe shortage of deeply affordable, available, and accessible rental housing, and the growing gap. [...] Additionally, only 36% of disabled women between the ages of 16 and 64 are employed, in comparison to 38% of disabled men, 70% of nondisabled women, and 79% of nondisabled men.45 • Disabled women (16.9%) are more likely to be behind on rent than nondisabled men (8.9%) and disabled men (16.4%). [...] Additionally, 25.3% of disabled Black, non-Hispanic women and 21.6% of disabled women of color overall are behind on rent; whereas, only 12.7% of disabled white, non-Hispanic women and 4.5% of nondisabled white, non-Hispanic men are behind on rent.46 • Disabled women who are unable to work and receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) as their sole source of income cannot afford a safe, decent un. [...] Additionally, the official poverty rate was 11.2% for women 65 years and older, compared to 9.0% for men in that age group.53 The rates are even steeper for older women of color, with nearly one in six Latinas (16.9%) and Black women (17.8%) living under the poverty line.54 Because of the critical importance rental assistance plays in the lives of women, LGBTQIA+ people, and their families, the fe. [...] Sandler, and Matthew Desmond, “A comprehensive demographic profile of the US evicted population” (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, October 2, 2023), .