Cityscape: Volume 21 Number 2 | National Survey of Mortgage Originations

The goal of Cityscape is to bring high-quality original research on housing and community development issues to scholars, government officials, and practitioners. Cityscape is open to all relevant disciplines, including architecture, consumer research, demography, economics, engineering, ethnography, finance, geography, law, planning, political science, public policy, regional science, sociology, statistics, and urban studies.

Cityscape is published three times a year by the Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Cityscape Home  |  View Past Issues

National Survey of Mortgage Originations

Volume 21 Number 2

Mark D. Shroder

Michelle P. Matuga

Road Map to a Unified Measure of Housing Insecurity

Robynn Cox
Benjamin Henwood
Seva Rodnyansky
Eric Rice
Suzanne Wenzel
University of Southern California

This article discusses the evolution of the concept and measurement of housing insecurity. Our survey of the literature uncovers that multiple terms and definitions are used to describe housing insecurity. Based on our analysis, we argue for one operational term, housing insecurity, and we put forth an operational definition that captures the various dimensions of this issue. We also argue for the development of an instrument that allows researchers to accurately measure the problem. We provide a road map for how this can be achieved based on the precedent set forth by the U.S. Food Security Survey Module.