One-Third of American Renters Expected to Miss Their August Payment
An expansive census survey reveals a nation stretched to the brink by the financial toll of pandemic.
Many renters who couldn’t make their July payment have been staring down the likelihood that they’ll miss another payment in August.
Photographer: Star Tribune via Getty Images/Star TribuneRenters across America are wading into unknown territory. With the lapse of the federal moratorium on evictions that expired July 31 and the end of the $600 per week boost to unemployment benefits, a recent survey reveals the breadth of financial uncertainty now plaguing Americans.
An estimated 27% of adults in the U.S. missed their rent or mortgage payment for July, according to a nationwide survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau weekly over the last three months. Among renters alone, just over one-third (34%) said during the waning days of July that they had little to no confidence that they could make their August rent payment, a stark measure of the ongoing economic devastation for households stretched to the brink by coronavirus pandemic.