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Women, people of color, and low-income families face the highest risk of being forced out of their homes as the eviction moratorium comes to an end

Housing activists erect a sign in front of Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker's house in Swampscott, Mass.
Michael Dwyer/AP Photo
  • With the eviction moratorium likely coming to an end Saturday, millions of renters are expected to be plunged into housing disarray. 
  • About 73 percent of renters likeliest to be evicted are people of color. About 56 percent are women.
  • More than half of the likeliest people vulnerable to eviction make less than $25,000 in total household income. 
  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

The eviction moratorium is expected to end on July 31, after Congress failed to renew it before heading into recess until mid-September. Once the moratorium expires, about 7.4 million Americans will risk getting evicted in the next coming months, according to Census Pulse Survey Data.

Women, people of color, and low-income households are the most vulnerable groups of renters who will be exposed to the consequences brought on by the end of the eviction moratorium. These three groups are believed to have the likeliest chance of being forced to leave their homes within the next two months, Census household data projects. 

About 1.4 million renters are very likely to be kicked out of their homes in the next two months, the data says. According to Insider calculations:

  • About 73 percent of the 1.4 million renters likely to be evicted are people of color.
  • About 56 percent of the 1.4 million are women.
  • And about 76 percent have an annual household income of less than $50,000 a year. More than half of the 1.4 million make less than $25,000 in total household income. 

Additionally, about 20% of the 1.4 million have at least some difficulty hearing, and about 50% have at least some difficulty seeing. 

Once the moratorium ends, these groups of people have the highest risk of being evicted from their homes. 

Last year, US Census data showed evidence that people of color more frequently faced evictions than white tenants did. 

Women on average face 16% higher rates of eviction than men, a 2020 study by the Eviction Lab said. When broken down by race, the difference is even more drastic. 

Between 2012 and 2016, the study says, Black women were evicted about 36 percent more often than Black men. 

"There's the dynamic intersection between poverty and race," Shamus Roller, executive director of the National Housing Law Project, an organization that aims to advance housing justice for poor people and communities, previously told Insider.

Researchers say there are several reasons why women might be evicted at higher rates than men.

One study, for example, found that men have a tendency to share personal conflicts like a job loss or health issue with their landlord directly while women generally keep to themselves, especially when either group deals with predominantly male landlords. 

"The interaction between predominantly male landlords and female tenants," that same study says, is "a culprit and often turns on gender dynamics."

And in general, single mothers are more vulnerable to economic disadvantages and financial difficulties.