The fear of losing your home can sit in your body like a constant, low-grade alarm. During the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of Americans lived with that dread as bills piled up and eviction loomed. But a federal program designed to keep people housed did more than pay the bills. It acted as a powerful, if unintentional, mental health intervention.
The Emergency Rental Assistance program, created by Congress in 2021, allocated $46.55 billion to prevent evictions among low-income renters facing pandemic-related hardship. Researchers from the University of California, Riverside now report that receiving this aid led to measurable drops in anxiety and depression. It also made people more likely to seek professional help when symptoms hit.
The study, published in Health Affairs in January 2026, was led by Wei Kang, an assistant professor in the School of Public Policy. Her team drew on U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey data collected between 2021 and 2023. The research design compared two groups: people who reported receiving rental assistance and people who had applied but were still waiting. Those in limbo served as the control group.
Relief Beyond the Rent Check
The numbers tell a striking story about the power of stability. Just under 46 percent of aid recipients reported symptoms of anxiety in the two weeks before taking the survey. That was 9.1 percentage points lower than those still awaiting assistance. Depression rates dropped by 8.1 points among those who had their rent covered.
It wasn’t just about feeling better. It was also about getting care.
Among people with anxiety or depression who were still waiting for aid, about 16 percent had seen a therapist or counselor in the previous four weeks. Once assistance arrived, that number climbed. Care-seeking rates rose by 6.5 percentage points for those with anxiety symptoms and 7.9 points for those with depression. The authors described these treatment gains as more modest than the symptom changes, but still statistically meaningful. Having that extra money meant people could finally afford the co-pay or find a way to get to a clinic.
The enzyme question is interesting here, in a roundabout way. Kang used something called causal mediation analysis to separate what helped directly from what helped through a chain reaction. In everyday terms, instead of treating the program like one mysterious push, she untangled the pathways.
Two routes emerged. First, ERA reduced mental distress by alleviating housing insecurity itself. Paying off overdue rent and avoiding the threat of eviction removed a major stressor, which in turn was linked to fewer symptoms. This effect was especially strong for anxiety. Second, with rent covered, households could redirect limited funds toward health-related needs. The researchers pointed to examples like prescription medications, doctor visit co-pays, and transportation to reach mental health services.
A New Lens on Economic Relief
For people already living on the edge, that budget shift mattered. The program did not simply keep a roof overhead. It changed what was possible when symptoms hit.
Bruce Link, a distinguished professor of public policy and sociology at UC Riverside and a co-author on the paper, noted that researchers often brace for the ways public spending might go wrong.
“What’s really interesting is that people in our field often worry about the unintended consequences of government programs, and that they’ll be bad, such as fraud or waste.” – Bruce Link, Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Sociology
This study highlighted a very different kind of outcome. The researchers argue that economic relief programs like rental assistance should be understood not only as fiscal policy but also as a public health tool. They suggest that future programs could strengthen these dual impacts by streamlining applications and speeding up delivery, so recipients can stabilize housing and access care sooner.
ERA was designed for a housing emergency. By easing the pressure of eviction and freeing up scarce dollars, it may have also made mental health care feel reachable at the exact moment many people needed it most.