The Effects of Housing Assistance on Income, Earnings, and Employment

Policymakers have started examining the long-term impacts of housing assistace on families. In particular, policymakers want to determine whether assisted housing can act as a barrier or a bridge to economic self-sufficiency. In this article we use a longitudinal data set of households receiving housing assistance and compare their trajectories on three outcomes—income, earnings, and employment—across types of housing programs and household characteristics. Using descriptive and multivariate analyses, we find notable differences in these three outcomes across different housing programs and populations. These findings imply that, while housing assistance need not be an impediment to increasing household income, earnings, and employment rates, program- and household-specific policies and interventions would likely have the most success in helping assisted households achieve economic self-sufficiency.