Exploring how Los Angeles Residents Cope with Unaffordable Housing Costs

The John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation has awarded Dr. Gary Painter and Dr. Jovanna Rosen a grant to study how Los Angeles residents are coping with rent burden through a telephone survey. The Los Angeles region faces a deep and worsening housing affordability crisis. As low-income residents are forced to spend a greater share of their limited incomes on rent, they must make trade-offs that may have long-term consequences, between rent and basic necessities such as food, education, and healthcare. Residents, policymakers, and practitioners are actively organizing to combat this growing issue, yet they lack full information about the conditions faced by residents, the survival strategies employed, and the long-term, cumulative impacts on both residents and communities—which limits effective intervention to support residents.