Safe, Stable Homes Lead to Healthier Children and Families for Baltimore

Children’s HealthWatch analyzed nearly 5,000 surveys from Baltimore families with children under age four collected between 2002-2011. In this sample, just 49% of families were stably housed. Compared to those in stably housed families, housing insecure families were more likely to experience fair or poor health, developmental delays and food insecurity. For example, children in families who were crowded or behind on rent were about 22% less likely to be classified as “well” on a composite scale of child well-being than were children in stably housed families.