Not Safe at Home is a research report by pediatric residents and faculty at Boston Medical Center and Children's Hospital, Boston on the effects of inadequate housing on child health. Over 100 stories submitted by pediatric caregivers across the United States of children whose health has been harmed by housing or whose health has improved with housing assistance. Principal Findings Housing Crisis. According to the 1993 Housing Survey, over 1.2 million U.S. households live in housing with significant physical problems.
Housing assistance reaches only a fraction of eligible families.
Asthma and respiratory disease. Asthma is the most common chronic illness of childhood, killing hundreds of U.S. children each year. Substandard housing with cockroaches, rats, mold and inadequate heating contributes to the severity of this epidemic. Disfiguring radiator burns, deadly house fires, and street violence all disproportionately affect children in substandard housing. We estimate that exposed radiators burn 1,485 children each year and 187 children in poor households die each year from fires attributable to electrical and heating problems.