COVID-19 vaccination and housing payments

Using data from the Household Pulse Survey collected by the U.S. Census Bureau, we show that COVID-19 vaccination mitigates households’ payment difficulty and that there is a positive causal relationship between the vaccination and housing rent/mortgage payment confidence. We attribute these findings to an economic recovery channel. Specifically, the vaccination results in improvement of economic activities and reduction in job losses and households’ anxiety, worry, and depression. Moreover, our results identify some racial, occupational, and regional disparities. The positive causal relationship between the vaccination and housing payments is more pronounced for black households, self-employed and non-teleworking households, and Southern households.