We investigate whether racial disparities exist among homeless families with priority access to the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. The families we studied moved from emergency shelter into subsidized housing and sometimes left the HCV program, and our results suggest that the HCV program works as well for Black families as it does for White families. The rates at which families used the vouchers to lease a housing unit are similarly high for each group. The rate at which families exit from the HCV program does not differ between White and Black families, but the factors that predict exit do differ by race. For all families, access to a voucher reduces returns to homelessness, doubling up, and moving. These results confirm that in the United States—a country with a history of racial disparities in housing—the HCV program can help alleviate the effects of severe poverty and provide housing opportunities that advantage both White and Black families.
AlbouyDavidEhrlichGabrielLiuYingyi. November2016. Housing demand, cost-of-living inequality, and the affordability crisis. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 22816, Cambridge, MA. Available from https://www.nber.org/papers/w22816.pdf.
CunninghamMary K.GalvezMartha M.ArandaClaudia L.SantosRobertWissokerDouglas A.OnetoAlyse D.PitingoloRobertCrawfordJames. 2018. A pilot study of landlord acceptance of housing choice vouchers. Report prepared by Urban Institute for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. Available from https://www.huduser.gov/portal//portal/sites/default/files/pdf/Landlord-Acceptance-of-Housing-Choice-Vouchers.pdf.
7.
DanzigerSheldonGottschalkPeter. 1997. America unequal. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
8.
DesmondMatthew. 2016. Evicted: Poverty and profit in the American city. New York, NY: Penguin Random House.
9.
FinkelMerylBuronLarry. November2001. Study on Section 8 voucher success rates. Vol. I: Quantitative study of success rates in metropolitan areas. Report prepared by Abt Associates for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. Available from https://www.huduser.gov/publications/pdf/sec8success.pdf.
10.
GeyerJudyDastrupSamuelFinkelMeryl. 2019. Impact of expanded choice on attrition in the Housing Voucher Program. Cityscape21 (3): 71–88.
11.
GreeneSolomonTurnerMargery AustinGourevitchRuth. 2017. Racial residential segregation and neighborhood disparities. Washington, DC: U.S. Partnership on Mobility from Poverty.
12.
GubitsDanielKhadduriJillTurnhamJennifer. September2009. Housing patterns of low income families with children: Further analysis of data from the study of the effects of housing vouchers on welfare families. Report W-9-7. Report prepared by Abt Associates for the Joint Center for Housing Studies Rental Housing Dynamics Initiative. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University. Available from https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/w09-7.pdf.
13.
GubitsDanielShinnMarybethWoodMichelleBellStephenDastrupSamuelSolariClaudia D.BrownScott R.McInnisDebiMcCallTomKattelUtsav. October2016. Family Options Study: 3-year impacts of housing and services interventions for homeless families. Report prepared by Abt Associates for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. Available from https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/Family-Options-Study-Full-Report.pdf.
14.
HenryMeghanBishopKorrinSousaTanya deShivjiAzimWattRian. October2018. The 2017 annual homeless assessment report (AHAR) to Congress. Part 2: Estimates of homelessness in the United States. Prepared by Abt Associates for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Community Planning and Development.Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. Available from https://www.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/2017-AHAR-Part-2.pdf.
15.
JeffersonAnnaThomasHannahKhadduriJillMahatheyAnnaDuntonLauren. July2019. Understanding rapid re-housing: Findings from initial interviews with rapid re-housing participants. Prepared by Abt Associates for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. Available from https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/RRH-Interviews-Report.pdf.
16.
KennedyStephen D.FinkelMeryl. October1994. Section 8 rental voucher and rental certificate utilization study: Final report. Prepared by Abt Associates for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
LubellJeffrey M.ShroderMarkSteffenBarry. 2003. Work participation and length of stay in HUD-assisted housing. Cityscape6 (2): 207–23.
19.
OliverMelvin L.ShapiroThomas M. 2006. Black wealth, White wealth: A new perspective on racial inequality. New York, NY: Routledge.
20.
OlivetJeffreyWilkeyCatrionaRichardMollyDonesMarcTrippJuliaBeit-ArieMayaYampolskayaSvetlanaCannonRegina. 2021. Racial inequality and homelessness: Findings from the SPARC study. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (this volume).
SchwartzAmy EllenHernKeren MertensEllenIngrid GouldCordesSarah A. 2020. Do housing vouchers improve academic performance? Evidence from New York City. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management39 (1): 131–58.
24.
ShapiroThomasMeschedeTatjanaOsoroSam. 2013. The roots of the widening racial wealth gap: Explaining the Black-White economic divide. Waltham, MA: Institute on Assets and Social Policy.
25.
ShinnMarybethKhadduriJill. 2020. In the midst of plenty: Homelessness and what to do about it. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell.
26.
SolariClaudia D.KhadduriJill. 2017. Family Options study: How homeless families use housing choice vouchers. Cityscape19 (3): 387–412.
27.
TurnerMargery AustinSantosRobLevyDiane K.WissokerDougArandaClaudiaPitingoloRob. 2013. Housing discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities 2012. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
