How Do People-Based Housing Policies Affect People (and Place)?

Abstract

Assisted housing programs in the United States aim to provide decent, safe, and affordable housing for low-income households. Increasingly, policymakers have also considered how assisted housing can provide access to lower poverty, income-diverse, and higher opportunity neighborhoods. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development currently balances two strategies. First, place-based programs—immoveable subsidies linked to particular units—can both revitalize distressed neighborhoods and provide access to higher opportunity neighborhoods. Second, people-based assistance—housing vouchers for use on the private rental market—can facilitate moves out of high-poverty, low-opportunity neighborhoods. During this policy moment with fair housing priorities receiving national attention, understanding the efficacy of each approach is critically important. This article synthesizes past research on housing vouchers to identify the impact of people-based assistance on four outcomes: residents’ neighborhood attainment, education, economic outcomes, and health. I also review the scant literature examining how vouchers affect place rather than people. I conclude by identifying aspects of special voucher programs that promote positive outcomes that could potentially be scaled up.

Keywords:

• Vouchers
• low-income housing
• policy

Acknowledgments

The author acknowledges Jennifer Candipan for excellent research assistance. This article draws on a presentation at the 2015 APPAM Fall Research Conference and the author thanks the other panelists and audience members for excellent discussion. The author also appreciates the support of George Galster and Tom Sanchez in creating this symposium and thanks reviewers for their constructive feedback.