Children’s Intimate Partner Violence Exposure and Mothers’ Eviction Stress

Background and Purpose: Intimate partner violence has profound impacts on the housing insecurity of mothers and children. Abusers may control household finances, cause property damage or nuisance complaints, or create financial dependence that prevents survivors from fleeing. Mothers who are survivors of IPV must navigate safety and housing security for themselves and their children with strained social networks and scarce resources. IPV is a known risk factor for housing problems, but little is known about the extent to which it drives eviction-related stress in mothers. The present study leveraged data from a large, nationally representative study to investigate the following research question: Is children’s IPV exposure in the home associated with increased stress about eviction among renting mothers?

Methods: Data came from the 2023 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH). Collected e2016-2023, NSCH used a repeated cohort sampling strategy to identify a new sample of families with children for each wave. In 2023, respondents in approximately 385,000 households were screened for having at least one child aged 0-17 in the home; one child was randomly selected as the survey subject. The analytic sample for the present study was limited to mothers who were currently renting their housing (N = 5,902). An ordered logistic regression tested whether children’s exposure to IPV in the household was associated with increased eviction stress for mothers, controlling for relevant covariates. All analyses were weighted to reflect the sampling strategy of the NSCH, and missing data were imputed using multiple imputation by chained equations with predictive mean matching.

Results: Results of the ordered logistic regression showed a strong and significant association between children witnessing IPV and mothers’ eviction stress. In families with past IPV exposure, mothers were 70% more likely to experience a higher level of stress about being evicted (OR = 1.70; p < 0.05), controlling for other important child-, mother-, and household-level characteristics. Unsurprisingly, prior experiences of housing insecurity were associated with greater eviction stress; a missed rent payment in the past year was associated with a more than 12-fold increase in higher eviction stress, and more frequent past-year moves were associated with a 53 percent increase. Prior homelessness more than doubled the risk of higher eviction stress (OR = 2.65; p < 0.001).

Conclusions and Implications: Findings suggest that eviction is a significant concern in households with prior IPV exposure. This study highlights an important intervention target for supporting survivors of IPV. Policies can increase support for this population by prioritizing survivors to receive housing vouchers and other financial housing assistance, and legally prohibiting landlords from evicting survivors for the actions of abusers. Restrictions on “nuisance evictions” for calls to emergency services and eviction protection for survivors offer promise for keeping survivors housed even in the event of disruptive or damaging actions by abusers. Robust housing services for survivors at the agency and local levels increase opportunities to leave violent relationships without fear of homelessness. Promising interventions such as flexible housing subsidies and landlord mediation have shown promise for keeping survivors housed.