Landlords, fear, and children's respiratory health: an untold story of environmental injustice in the central city

Abstract

Recent research has explored the role of environmental inequalities in explaining health disparities, especially in urban environments. This paper investigates the role of the landlord in shaping indoor environmental injustices. Specifically, we rely on interview data from low-income parents in South Phoenix, AZ, with elementary-aged children with asthma. We found families living in poor quality rental housing that impacted children's breathing. Landlords were directly involved in keeping the homes in poor condition, even when asked by the tenant to fix the property, and immigrants were especially at risk. In general, relationships between landlords and tenants were unequal and coloured by the tenant's poverty and fears of eviction. Among the immigrant tenants, many had accompanying fears of authorities and deportation. The cycle of fear, poverty, and a lack of power compounded as tenants were hesitant to report problems, which reinforced the power of the landlord over the tenant and did nothing to improve living conditions. Recognising the role of landlords in creating substandard housing conditions is important as they represent a group that can be targeted for interventions.

Keywords:

• environmental injustice
• children's asthma
• rental housing
• landlords

Notes

Indoor allergens play at least two roles in asthma: (1) as a risk factor for genetically susceptible individuals and (2) as a source of ongoing airway inflammation and hypersensitivity to other irritants (Rauh et al. 2008).

Evaporative coolers produce cool air by combining water evaporation with an air-moving system that pulls outside air through moist pads, where it is cooled by evaporation as much as 30°F and then circulated through dwelling by a large blower (Consumer Energy Center 2009). Air conditioning is preferable to evaporative cooling because it produces drier air and keeps homes cool even when it is humid outside (coolers do not function at dew points above 55°F). During the late summer in Phoenix, monsoon season brings humid weather, making evaporative coolers ineffective.

One of these parents had since sold the home because of her daughter's asthma and moved to a newer apartment complex. The other had been “renting-to-own” the home for 15 years.

According to their website, the Southwest Fair Housing Council (SFHC) is a non-profit organisation based in Tucson, AZ, that is committed to advocate for, and facilitate, the enforcement of the U.S. Civil Rights Act Title VIII: Federal Fair Housing Act. SFHC's primary focus is to assist people with housing complaints such as those highlighted in this paper, by investigating and documenting an incident at no cost to the client, which allows SFHC to evaluate the case for future action. SFHC also provides outreach and education to better inform clients of their rights and how to enforce them.

“The most comprehensive national testing project done to date found that there is a 25.7% likelihood that a Latino will be discriminated against when seeking rental housing” (Oliveri 2009, p. 120).