Healthy Beginnings at Home, a pilot research program, published a study showing that expanding affordable housing resources significantly improves infant health outcomes. The researchers surveyed 100 respondents who were pregnant and who had experienced housing instability or homelessness in the past. Respondents consisted of two groups: one that received housing assistance among other health resources and another control group that received health resources but not housing assistance. The study found that in the group with access to housing resources, 40 of 51 newborns were born at full-term and with healthy weights, while in the group without access to housing resources, only 24 of 44 newborns were born at full-term and with healthy weights.
The findings suggest that housing is essential for the health and well-being of children as well as families. “It is not an issue that just affects the mother and the infant,” said Barb Poppe, lead consultant with Healthy Beginnings at Home. “There were health improvements for all of the family members, and there were cost savings in health care.”
Read the report here.
Read an article about the report here.