Comparing Methods for Measuring the Prevalence of Evictions and Forced Moves on the Poverty Tracker and the American Housing Survey: What Can Be Learned?

Sophie Collyer
Katherine Friedman
Christopher Wimer
Columbia University

Launched in 2012, the Poverty Tracker is a longitudinal study of poverty and well-being in New York City. The study follows a representative sample of New Yorkers for up to 4 years, collecting information on income, material hardship, health problems, and several other factors related to economic security and well-being. Respondents enter the study by completing a baseline survey that assesses poverty status, experiences of material hardship, and health status. This survey is repeated every year that respondents are in the study, tracking the dynamics of those experiences. Between the annual surveys, respondents complete quarterly surveys on a variety of topics, including—but not limited to—assets and debts, employment, consumption, and service use. Important to this comment, the Poverty Tracker surveys also ask about relocation and eviction.