East Baton Rouge Parish (Baton Rouge) LA

Black America deserves its fair share of the American Dream:   Affordable rentals shrinking, growing mortgage denials block homeownership    

Despite unprecedented federal housing assistance during the pandemic, a report by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) finds stark racial and income divides in its analysis of the nation’s rental market. Nearly a quarter of Black renters were behind on rent in the third quarter of 2021, as well as 19% of Hispanic renters. By contrast, the share of white renters in arrears was half that: 9%.