Financial Insecurity and COVID-19
This report examines the financial situation of the 3.4 million households who rent and whose primary source of income is wages and salaries or self-employment income. Everyone will be eventually touched by the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, but rent is due soon. Specifically, it addresses the following question: How many weeks or months can renters go without employment income before running out of savings?
The short answer is that almost half of them have less than a month’s worth of savings; one-third have two weeks or less.
About the author
Ricardo Tranjan directs the research program for the CCPA-Ontario, focusing on collaboration and movement building. Ricardo’s expertise centres on Ontario public finances and the political economy of social policy, especially public education funding, income support programs, and rental housing. He is a frequent commentator in the media and public speaker. In addition to regular op-eds in major news outlets and several policy analyses, Ricardo is the author of two books: Participatory Democracy in Brazil (2015), a scholarly analysis of his native country; and the national bestseller The Tenant Class (2023). Previously, Ricardo managed the City of Toronto’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Office and briefly taught at universities in Ontario and Quebec. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Waterloo’s Balsillie School of International Affairs and speaks English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
