Having poor health may lead to homelessness, study says
A US study has found that people who had chronic illnesses such as heart disease and heart failure are twice as likely to become homeless.
The study, by the Yale School of Public Health concentrated on 2, 066 people who owned a home between 2007 and 2010.
It was found that those with a new chronic illness between 2006 and 2008 were 1.63 at risk of defaulting their homes, and 2.65 times likely to foreclose compared to people who were healthy.
“By following people over time, and looking at how changes in health status influence later mortgage default and foreclosure, we’re able to provide some insight into how this process unfolds over time,” author Jason Houle, a sociologist at Dartmouth University in Hanover, New Hampshire, said.
The study should be attracting policy-makers, Houle added.
“[…] if we want to reduce the financial devastation associated with illness, a sensible way to do it would be to strengthen the social safety net and reduce the cost of health care,” he said.
“The ACA [The Affordable Care Act ]tries to do both of these things, though we would need more evidence to know whether policies like the ACA can break the link between becoming ill and foreclosure,” he said.
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