# Presentation: 134971

## Effects of Housing Choice Vouchers on Welfare Families: Neighborhood Location,Household Composition, and Housing Status Gregory Mills

-   Presented at the 10th Annual Welfare Research and Evaluation Conference

- June 6, 2007

## Research Questions

- Geographic mobility and quality of one’s neighborhood location
- Composition of one’s household
- Housing security and physical conditions of one’s housing unit

***For welfare families, what are the effects of housing vouchers on . . . ?***

- Effects of Housing Choice Vouchers on Welfare Families

## Welfare-to-Work Voucher Program

- Enacted in 1999 with $283 million appropriation to fund 50,000 vouchers
- Program eligibility based on current or recent TANF receipt or current TANF eligibility
- WtW vouchers were to be provided in conjunction with housing and employment-related services, but few services offered
- WtWV program phased out in March 2004, incorporated into the Housing Choice Voucher program
- Intervention: additional financial resources through the voucher, which could be used to move or lease in place

- Effects of Housing Choice Vouchers on Welfare Families

## Evaluation Design

- Randomized experiment with a wait-listed control group
- All treatment cases received vouchers, but not all used them (nonparticipation).  Control cases had some chance of receiving and using vouchers (crossover).
- Research sample (7,684) enrolled during April-December 2000:
- Atlanta, Georgia (1,134)
- Augusta, Georgia (759)
- Fresno, California (2,621)
- Houston, Texas (2,021)
- Spokane, Washington (1,149)

- Effects of Housing Choice Vouchers on Welfare Families

## Data Sources

- Baseline survey, preceding random assignment
- Follow-up survey at year 5 (2,481 interviews during October 2004-May 2005, effective response rate of 77 percent)
- In-depth qualitative interviews (141 interviews during July-September 2005)
- Locational tracking (through June 2005) to construct address histories over 18-quarter follow-up period
- 2000 Census data, tract-level neighborhood indicators
- HUD administrative data (monthly through December 2004)

- Effects of Housing Choice Vouchers on Welfare Families

## Accounting for Nonparticipation and Crossover

- Cumulative lease-up rate at month 48: 70 percent for treatment cases (p) and 42 percent for control cases (c)
***Intent-to-treat (ITT) impact***: impact on entire treatment group, relative to entire control group
***Treatment-on-treated (TOT) impact***: impact on treatment group members who leased up with voucher, relative to not using voucher
- For survey-measured outcomes, TOT impact was approximated from ITT impact, using Bloom adjustment:     TOT = ITT x 1/(p –c)
- For other outcomes, TOT impact was estimated using period-by-period data to account for timing of lease-up

- Effects of Housing Choice Vouchers on Welfare Families

## Impacts on Mobility and Neighborhood Location

***Increased likelihood of moving outside of baseline neighborhood***
***Reduced overall number of moves ***
***Improved neighborhood location***--lower poverty rate, higher employment rate, and lower welfare concentration

**Voucher use resulted in:**

- Effects of Housing Choice Vouchers on Welfare Families

## Impacts on Mobility

- N = 7,614.
- TOT = "Treatment-on-Treated".  Standard errors in parentheses.
- *** indicates p < .01.

- TOT = "Treatment-on-Treated".  Standard errors in parentheses. *** indicates p < .01.

| Outcome | Sample
 Size | Control
Mean | TOT Impact |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Residing outside of baseline Census tract  (at quarter 18)  | 7,614 | 0.562 |      0.109***
   (0.033) |
| Total number of moves (through  survey follow-up period)  | 2,452 | 2.34 |      -0.88***    (0.30) |

- Effects of Housing Choice Vouchers on Welfare Families

## Impacts on Neighborhood Location 

- N = 7,614.
- TOT = "Treatment-on-Treated".  Standard errors in parentheses.
- *** indicates p < .01.

- N = 7,614. TOT = "Treatment-on-Treated".  Standard errors in parentheses.  *** indicates p < .01.

| Outcome (at quarter 18) | Control
Mean (%) | TOT
 Impact |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Poverty rate | 28.52
 |          -2.36***         (0.76) |
| Employment rate | 87.00 |           0.93***         (0.36) |
| Welfare concentration | 10.55 |          -0.97***         (0.37) |

- Effects of Housing Choice Vouchers on Welfare Families

## Impacts on Household Composition

**Voucher use resulted in:**
***Reduced size of households***
***Reduced proportion of multigenerational households***

- Effects of Housing Choice Vouchers on Welfare Families

## Impacts on Household Size and Type

| Outcome (at follow-up survey) | Sample
 Size | Control
Mean | TOT Impact |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Household size |  |  |  |
|    Total (including adult respondent) | 2,481 | 4.719 |    -0.726***
   (0.241) |
| Household type |  |  |  |
|   Single parent with child(ren) only | 2,480 | 0.572 |      0.243***
   (0.089) |
|   Multigenerational | 2,458 | 0.218 |    -0.203***   (0.055) |

**Impacts on Household Size and Type**

- TOT = "Treatment-on-Treated".  Standard errors in parentheses.  *** indicates p < .01.

- Effects of Housing Choice Vouchers on Welfare Families

## Impacts on Housing Status

**Voucher use resulted in:**
***Reduction in prior-year homelessness and doubling-up***
***Increased likelihood of living independently***
***Reduced crowding***
***Reduced amount spent monthly on rent and utilities***.

- Effects of Housing Choice Vouchers on Welfare Families

## Impacts on Housing Security

| Outcome (at follow-up survey) | Sample
 Size | Control
Mean | TOT Impact |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Housing insecure: Did not have one’s own place to stay or lived with others at some point during  past year
 | 
2,478 | 
0.448 | 
   -0.355***
   (0.068) |
|     Homeless: Living on streets or
    in shelters at some point during
    past year | 2,478 | 0.125 |    -0.092***
   (0.032) |
|     Doubled-up: Living with friends,
    relatives, or others, at some point
    during past year | 2,448 | 0.314 |    -0.218***   (0.059) |

- TOT = "Treatment-on-Treated".  Standard errors in parentheses.  *** indicates p < .01.

- Effects of Housing Choice Vouchers on Welfare Families

## Other Impacts on Housing Status

- TOT = "Treatment-on-Treated".  Standard errors in parentheses.   *** indicates p < .01,
- ** indicates p < .05.

| Outcome (at follow-up survey) | Sample
 Size | Control
Mean | TOT Impact |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Living independently: living in housing rented or owned by respondent | 2,479 | 0.686 |      0.234***
   (0.055) |
| Crowding: <1 room/person in household  | 2,451 | 0.457 |     -0.219** 
    (0.090) |
| Amount spent monthly on rent and utilities | 2,174 | $692 |     -$211***      (72) |

- Effects of Housing Choice Vouchers on Welfare Families