Why Aren’t They Working? Young Millenials in Assisted Housing

• In Event: 444 - Section on Disability and Society Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 02. Disability in the Family: Explanatory Models for Well-Being

Abstract

This research uses data from the 2011 American Housing Survey to examine how self-reported health status, disability, educational attainment, and presence of children impact on the probability of employment for the 375,000 heads of household age 19 to 25 who were receiving housing assistance from HUD. Most are a household with children, 76 percent. Nine percent are headed by a person who reports a disability or less than good health and no children. In 2011, a majority of the young householders, 58 percent, had earned income as their primary source of income. The subgroup of households with children have an average employment rate of 76 percent and shows that children in themselves are not a significant barrier to employment. Logistic regression was used to identify the predictors of receipt of earned income. Respondents reporting good health and no disability (76 percent), or educational attainment of some college (24 percent) were each positively and statistically significant for increased employment rates. The obstacles to no longer needing housing assistance for young adult heads of households are a combination of low wages, poor education, poor health, and disability.

Author

• Barbara A. Haley, USHUD