Childhood Housing and Adult Earnings: A Between-Siblings Analysis of Housing Vouchers and Public Housing

Fredrik Andersson, John Haltiwanger, Mark Kutzbach, Giordano Palloni, Henry Pollakowski, Daniel H. Weinberg
2013 Social Science Research Network  
To date, research on the long-term effects of childhood participation in voucher-assisted and public housing has been limited by the lack of suitable identification strategies and appropriate data. We create a new, national-level longitudinal data set on housing assistance and labor market earnings to explore how children's housing affects their later employment and earnings. While naïve estimates suggest there are substantial negative consequences to childhood participation in both types of
more » ... sidized housing, these relationships appear to be driven largely by negative selection into housing assistance programs. To mitigate this source of bias, we employ household fixed-effects specifications that use only withinhousehold (across sibling) variation for identification. Compared to the naïve estimates, household fixedeffects estimates are attenuated for some demographic groups and positive and significant effects for others. Girls, in particular, appear to benefit from time spent in both public and voucher-assisted housing. (JEL H43; I31; I38; J38; J62). NOTE: Any opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency or the U.S. Census Bureau. All results have been reviewed to ensure that no confidential information is disclosed.
doi:10.2139/ssrn.2330982 fatcat:hzohbp5xojemhpsu4vo4f4vele