Missed Housing and Utility Payments Are Common and Persistent in the United States

This report on a study from the University of California, Davis, Center for Poverty Research identifies that 14 to 16 percent of the U.S. population has been unable to pay fully and on-time for either utilities or housing. The study also found that utility hardship is more prevalent than housing hardship, and households with solely utility hardship are more disadvantaged than households with housing hardship only. Also, poor health is the strongest predictor of both utility and housing hardships.