Long-Run Effects of Public Housing on Economic and Health Outcomes

• In Event: Exploring the lifecycle of housing assistance’s economic and health impacts, from application to long-term follow-up

Abstract

Programs that improve access to stable high-quality housing also improve health, although our evidence of this relationship is largely limited to short-term effects. We study the long-term effects of the US public housing program on individual health and economic outcomes six decades later. The public housing program began in 1935 and represented a notable achievement in a well-funded and maintained public investment in stable and high-quality housing. We examine effects of early-life public housing exposure on later life health outcomes using a unique dataset of all public housing residents in the 1940 census, linked at the individual level to the 2000 census long form. We identified 101,482 individuals living in public housing in 1940, including 39,093 children. We compare public housing residents in 1940 to a group of 388,000 individuals living in the same or neighboring census districts, matched on the admission criteria for public housing at the time (household income, employment, family structure). We will link these individuals to the 2000 census long form and compare outcomes on educational attainment, functional disability, and homeownership. Our results will identify long-term economic and health impacts of access to a sustained investment in better housing during the critical period of childhood.

Author

• Andrew Fenelon, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Presenting Author