Race, gender, and housing inequality: an exploration of the correlates of low-quality housing among clients diagnosed with severe and persistent mental illness.

This paper explores the relationship of race and gender to housing quality among clients diagnosed with severe mental illness. More specifically, it asks: "How do a client's race and gender affect her/his odds of living in a "low-quality" housing arrangement?" A low-quality arrangement is defined as one which is time-limited and/or physically unsafe. The analysis draws upon clinical, demographic, and housing data for 517 African American and White consumers of publicly-funded mental health services in King County, Washington. Multivariate logistic regression is the primary analytic strategy used. Controlling for certain clinical/behavioral and economic/ecological factors, race/gender category is found to affect significantly the odds of experiencing low-quality housing.