A new report from Portland State University’s Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative (HRAC) examined rates of housing insecurity, homelessness and food insecurity among PSU students and employees.
The report found 44.6% of PSU students experienced housing insecurity in the 12 months prior, 16.1% experienced homelessness in the same time frame and 47% experienced food insecurity in the 30 days prior to completing the survey, which was administered in the fall of 2019. The survey was completed by 3,511 students (15% of students enrolled in fall 2019) and 1,017 employees (28% of all employees).
HRAC also completed a follow-up survey to assess students’ basic needs insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the small subset of participants who responded to the survey (166 students), 64.5% experienced housing insecurity, 20.5% experienced homelessness and 55.4% experienced food insecurity.
Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students were disproportionately impacted and experienced higher rates of basic needs insecurity than white students. Native American students were particularly impacted. They were almost twice as likely as White students to experience homelessness and had the highest rates of food insecurity at 66.4%.
For PSU employees, 22.7% experienced housing insecurity, 5.6% experienced homelessness and 16.5% experienced food insecurity. BIPOC employees were also disproportionately impacted. Black employees in particular were more than twice as likely as White employees to experience housing insecurity, homelessness and food insecurity.
The rates of basic needs insecurity at PSU are higher than the average across four-year institutions, when compared to the 2019 Hope Center study. But Greg Townley, HRAC research director and associate professor of psychology, said the rates for students were in line with what researchers at HRAC expected. Portland State is the first university to survey employees about basic needs, so a comparison does not yet exist.
“If we have any hope of helping Portland and the region more broadly address homelessness, we must address it within our own campus community,” Townley said. “The study was designed to provide a foundation for Portland State University to work from in determining how to best address homelessness, housing insecurity and food insecurity among students and employees.”