This is a summary of the findings on how eviction impacts children from a new working paper by Robert Collinson, Deniz Dutz, John Eric Humphries, Nicholas Mader, Daniel Tannenbaum & Winnie van Dijk. Read the full paper and a summary of the research from the Tobin Center for Economic Policy at Yale University.

Boys appear to be especially sensitive to early life disruptions and disadvantages. Previous research shows that boys fare worse than girls when faced with challenges such as:

• Exposure to disadvantaged neighborhoods and schools
• Frequent residential moves during childhood
• Growing up in single-parent households
• Income instability or sudden economic shocks

Eviction may now be added to this list.

A recent study uses a wealth of new data from Chicago and New York City to explore how eviction impacts children’s home environments and educational outcomes. The authors employ an innovative methodology that leverages variation in eviction court judges’ leniency. By comparing children who are narrowly evicted with children who are narrowly not evicted, and then linking eviction court records to public school records and Census data, the researchers are able to estimate the causal impact of eviction on children, including by gender. Strikingly, the authors find that eviction’s negative effects are more dramatic among boys.

After eviction, living situations differ sharply between boys and girls

After eviction, girls are significantly more likely to move into multigenerational households and lower-poverty neighborhoods, likely offering greater familial support, adult supervision, and community resources.

In contrast, the impact of eviction on boys’ likelihood of moving into a multigenerational household is smaller, and boys continue to live in similarly poor neighborhoods. The authors suggest that extended family members might be more willing to offer housing assistance to girls, possibly due to perceptions of caregiving difficulty or behavioral challenges associated with boys.

These stark differences in post-eviction housing situations may contribute to the more severe school engagement and educational outcomes observed among boys.

Boys’ education disproportionately disrupted by eviction

The study finds that eviction negatively impacts boys’ educational engagement and achievement, both immediately and in the longer term, whereas girls’ educational outcomes appear less affected. Specifically, boys from evicted households experience:

• Higher absenteeism
• Fewer high school credits earned
• Lower high school graduation rates

Figure 1

These findings highlight eviction as more than a housing or economic crisis; it’s also a powerful driver of educational disruption—one disproportionately affecting boys and potentially reinforcing cycles of intergenerational disadvantage. These disruptions likely have significant long-term impacts, given research showing that boys’ economic mobility is especially sensitive to growing up in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Given mounting evidence of boys’ heightened vulnerability to instability, researchers should consistently disaggregate data by gender. A deeper understanding of why eviction and similar disruptions affect boys differently will inform targeted, gender-sensitive policy interventions—critical steps toward breaking cycles of intergenerational poverty and promoting equitable outcomes for all children.

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