Theorizing Pathways Between Eviction Filings and Increased Mortality Risk

Evictions have become recognized as important social determinants of individual and community health, largely due to the revelatory work of Desmond in the past decade. During the COVID-19 pandemic, evictions became a major public health topic as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a federal moratorium on evictions that lasted from September 4, 2020, through August 26, 2021. The moratorium was instituted with the intention to limit COVID-19 transmission by preventing homelessness and overcrowded housing conditions. Many local and regional jurisdictions also issued their own eviction moratoria that overlapped and extended the federal moratorium beyond August 2021. The unique circumstances of these eviction moratoria provide opportunities to study ways that evictions and health are related.