PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Vincent J. Reina
AU  - Yeonhwa Lee
TI  - COVID-19 and Emergency Rental Assistance: Impact on Rent Arrears, Debt, and the Well-Being of Renters in Philadelphia
AID  - 10.7758/RSF.2023.9.3.09
DP  - 2023 May 01
TA  - RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
PG  - 208--229
VI  - 9
IP  - 3
4099  - http://www.rsfjournal.org/content/9/3/208.short
4100  - http://www.rsfjournal.org/content/9/3/208.full
AB  - The federal government allocated an unprecedented level of funding to develop emergency rental assistance programs to help vulnerable low-income renter households remain housed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using panel data from two waves of applicant surveys joined with administrative data, this article analyzes the impact of Phase 1 of the City of Philadelphia’s COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program and asks how emergency rental assistance affected households in their rent arrears, rent-related debt, and mental health. Analysis shows that receiving emergency rental assistance was associated with lower arrears, a lower probability of rent-related debt, and a lower probability of experiencing frequent debilitating anxiety. The findings suggest that the initial rent relief provided crucial support for households in terms of financial and mental well-being but also underscore that housing affordability challenges that predated the pandemic cannot be addressed by an emergency rental assistance program created in response to a pandemic.