5. Florida
> Children affected by completed foreclosures: 4.8%
> Foreclosed homes with loans taken out 2004 to 2008: 8% (tied for 5th highest)
> Children affected by foreclosures: 193,000 (2nd most)
> Children in delinquent or foreclosure homes: 6.4% (16th highest)
Between 2006 and the first quarter of 2011, homes in the state of Florida lost roughly half of their value. Florida has among the fewest children relative to the size of its population. Nevertheless, more than 193,000 of those under the age of 18 lost their homes when the mortgages their families took out during the recession were foreclosed. As of February, 2011, an additional 397,000 children, or 12.8% of the state’s under-18 population, were in homes that were either delinquent on mortgage payments or were in the process of being foreclosed upon.
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4. California
> Children affected by completed foreclosures: 6.2%
> Foreclosed homes with loans taken out 2004 to 2008: 9% (4th highest)
> Children affected by foreclosures: 575,000 (the most)
> Children in delinquent or foreclosure homes: 8.5% (6th highest)
California was among the states hit the hardest by the recession. For 2010, the state’s unemployment rate was third highest in the country, at 12.4%. From the first quarter of 2006 to the first quarter of 2011, home prices fell by more than 46% in the state, or the fourth-largest amount in the country. Not only have more than half a million young Californians, or 6.2% of the state’s children, already lost their homes, but the state has the fourth-highest rate of children affected by houses in delinquency, houses in the foreclosure process and houses that have been fully foreclosed combined.
3. Michigan
> Children affected by completed foreclosures: 6.3%
> Foreclosed homes with loans taken out 2004 to 2008: 13% (2nd highest)
> Children affected by foreclosures: 147,000 (3rd most)
> Children in delinquent or foreclosure homes: 7.5% (9th highest)
Michigan homes lost 42% of their value between the beginning of 2006 and the beginning of 2011. As a result, by February first of last year, roughly 6.3% of the state’s children had lost their homes as the result of foreclosures, the third-highest percentage in the country. At that time, an additional 6.4% were living in homes that were in the process of being foreclosed or whose mortgage payments were delinquent 60 days or more. The situation for children in these states is much more dire than those that have lost their homes in wealthier regions like Virginia or Rhode Island. More than 21% of all families with children in the state are living below the poverty line.
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2. Arizona
> Children affected by completed foreclosures: 7.7%
> Foreclosed homes with loans taken out 2004 to 2008: 11% (3rd highest)
> Children affected by foreclosures: 125,000 (5th most)
> Children in delinquent or foreclosure homes: 12.8% (the highest)
Home prices in Arizona decreased by 54% from the first quarter of 2006 to the first quarter of 2011 — the second-largest drop in the country. Arizona also has one of the highest rates of mortgaged homes that have been foreclosed. Unfortunately, children have been affected greatly by this scenario. When only considering those children who have already lost their homes to foreclosures, the state has the second-highest rate in the country — a share affecting 125,000 children. When taking into account also homes in the foreclosure process and homes in delinquency, the state has third-largest percentage of children affected.
1. Nevada
> Children affected by completed foreclosures: 9.5%
> Foreclosed homes with loans taken out 2004 to 2008: 14% (the highest)
> Children affected by foreclosures: 63,000 (10th most)
> Children in delinquent or foreclosure homes: 10.7% (2nd highest)
Nevada’s homes lost nearly 60% of their value during the recession, by far the biggest decline among the states. During the precrash housing boom, more than 540,000 mortgages were taken out in the state. As of February of last year, approximately 75,000 mortgages, a nation-high 14%, had been foreclosed. An additional 75,000 were either in foreclosure or late on payments. More than 9.5% of all the state’s children lost their homes in these foreclosures alone. An additional 10% are at risk of losing their homes because they are either in foreclosure or delinquency. That’s one in five Nevada children whose life has likely disrupted because of the housing bust.
Michael B. Sauter and Charles B. Stockdale
