A Lever for Addressing Homelessness? The Causal Effect of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit on Student Homelessness and Mobility

• In Event: Schools and Social Policy: Segregation, Housing, and Transportation

Abstract

Education leaders and policymakers are grappling with educating a growing number of homeless students. There is strong consensus that affordable housing is necessary to end homelessness. In this study, I bring together educational administrative data and data from the largest federally supported source of affordable housing development, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit [LIHTC] program, to ask: how does the development of affordable housing via LIHTC affect the incidences of student homelessness and mobility? To do so, I exploit a discontinuity in the LIHTC funding formula that results in additional tax credits (and projects) in certain census tracts. I use this discontinuity in the funding formula to estimate the causal effects of this program on student homelessness and mobility.

Author

• Tasminda Dhaliwal, Michigan State University