The U.S. has experienced a severe affordable rental housing shortage that is likely to have negative health consequences as individuals spend a higher share of their income on rent, settle for poor quality and hazardous housing, or experience homelessness. Previous research has focused on how an individual’s housing affects their own health, but limited housing availability may also affect health and wellbeing through the strain that it places on families and other social relations who house or support those with limited housing opportunities.

The murder of George Floyd in May 2020 sparked peaceful protests, riots, vandalism, vigils, and many other forms of activism across the U.S. and around the world. The unprecedented levels of participation by White Americans potentially represent a significant shift in intergroup relations among activists that might reflect changes in their attitudes, views of democracy, and organizational engagement. Sociologist Dana Fisher and political scientists Michael Heaney and Stella Rouse will investigate whether and how activists changed their views and participation over time.

The pandemic has wrought considerable hardship on racialized and immigrant groups. In Chicago, Black residents are dying of COVID-19 at five times the rate of Whites. Latinx groups have the highest rates of cases in Illinois, and Little Village—the Chicago neighborhood with the most cases is densely populated with many undocumented immigrants. While these groups have experienced very high rates of job loss, food insecurity, and inability to pay rent, many are excluded from government programs intended to ameliorate COVID-19’s effects.

Although the immigrant detention system has grown fivefold in the past two decades, with upwards of 50,000 migrants detained on a typical day in 2020, we lack data-driven analyses of how the expansion or contraction of detention capacity affects local communities. Sociologist Angelina Godoy will examine the impact of detention capacity (the number of available beds) by measuring the extent to which changes in capacity lead to a) shifting rates of enforcement in surrounding areas, and/or b) changing bond amounts for detainees in affected facilities.

Trust in government is at an all-time low, and previous research demonstrates that economic recessions, increased immigration and racial diversity, and political polarization help explain the drop in government trust. While there have been many quantitative studies on the topic, qualitative research on the racial dimensions of trust in government is limited.

While Latinxs comprise just 18 percent of the population, they represent 27 percent of Covid deaths, and unemployment has risen more steeply for Latinxs than for the general population. Sociologist Leah Schmalzbauer will examine the familial implications of Covid-19 among low-income, second-generation youth who are studying at, or recently graduated from, a highly selective college. How is Covid-19 impacting their mobility pathways? How are upwardly mobile Latinx youth navigating the relationship between their goals and plans and their family responsibilities?

Precarious work includes temporary, contract-based, and involuntary part-time work. It is often insecure, provides limited economic and social benefits, and is covered by few labor law or regulatory protections. Sociologist Alexandrea Ravenelle will examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent recession on the social, physical, and economic well-being of precarious workers both during the outbreak and in subsequent years.