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Is housing hardship associated with increased adolescent delinquent behaviors?

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  • Gold, Sarah

Abstract

Housing-related hardships, ranging from an inability to pay full housing costs to being evicted, are common experiences for families in the U.S. Despite the frequency of these hardships, little is known about their relationships with adolescent behaviors. The current paper uses longitudinal data on births in large U.S. cities from all six waves of the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study to explore the association between childhood experiences of housing hardships and delinquent behaviors in adolescence. About 60% of the sample experiences housing hardship at one or more waves. Inabilities to meet housing costs are common among the sample: over 40% are unable to pay their full rent or mortgage payment. Results from multivariate regression and residualized change models indicate that children who experience any housing hardship are more likely to engage in delinquent behaviors than children who do not experience hardship. Exposure to higher average levels of hardship and more waves of hardship are both associated with increased delinquency. Childhood poverty does not moderate the relationship between housing hardship and delinquency suggesting that housing hardship is associated with delinquent behaviors for poor and non-poor children alike. This research builds on existing literature highlighting the importance of examining hardship as a measure of family wellbeing. It also suggests that preventing common housing-related hardships can be beneficial for youth behavioral outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Gold, Sarah, 2020. "Is housing hardship associated with increased adolescent delinquent behaviors?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:116:y:2020:i:c:s0190740920302206
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105116
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Zilanawala, Afshin & Pilkauskas, Natasha V., 2012. "Material hardship and child socioemotional behaviors: Differences by types of hardship, timing, and duration," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 814-825.
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    1. Comeau, Jinette & Duncan, Laura & Smith, Carrie & Smith-Carrier, Tracy & Georgiades, Katholiki & Wang, Li & Boyle, Michael H., 2021. "The joint association of family-level inadequate housing and neighbourhood-level antisocial behaviour with child mental health problems," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    2. Lisa Thomsen & Ross Homel, 2024. "Cumulative Sociodemographic Risk as a Predictor of Adolescent Antisocial Behaviour," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 17(5), pages 2123-2148, October.
    3. Gold, Sarah & Wagner, Brandon, 2022. "Acute care utilization and housing hardships in American children," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    4. Washington, Tyreasa & Despard, Mathieu, 2024. "Making a way out of no way: The importance of improving financial instability among African American kinship care families," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).

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