TY - JOUR
T1 - The benefits of rental assistance for children’s healtand school attendance in the United States
AU - Fenelon, Andrew
AU - Boudreaux, Michel
AU - Slopen, Natalie
AU - Newman, Sandra J.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments We are grateful to affiliates of the Hopkins Population Center, Maryland Population Research Center, and Cornell Population Center for helpful comments. Work for this project was funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R21-HD095329-01A1). We acknowledge institutional support from the Maryland Population Research Center (P2C-HD041041) and the Population Research Institute (P2C-HD041025).
Funding Information:
1 There are currently more than 3,000 PHAs across the United States. 2 PHAs may receive funds from sources other than HUD (e.g., foundation grants, other federal agencies), but their primary operating and capital budgets are funded by HUD. 3 Affordable housing units provided through the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, a U.S. Department of the Treasury program, are not included in the current analysis unless they house voucher recipients.
Funding Information:
We are grateful to affiliates of the Hopkins Population Center, Maryland Population Research Center, and Cornell Population Center for helpful comments. Work for this project was funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R21-HD095329-01A1). We acknowledge institutional support from the Maryland Population Research Center (P2C-HD041041) and the Population Research Institute (P2C-HD041025).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Programs that provide affordable and stable housing may contribute to better child health and thus to fewer missed days of school. Drawing on a unique linkage of survey and administrative data, we use a quasi-experimental approach to examine the impact of rental assistance programs on missed days of school due to illness. We compare missed school days due to illness among children receiving rental assistance with those who will enter assistance within two years of their interview, the average length of waitlists for federal rental assistance. Overall, we find that children who receive rental assistance miss fewer days of school due to illness relative to those in the pseudo-waitlist group. We demonstrate that rental assistance leads to a reduction in the number of health problems among children and thus to fewer days of school missed due to illness. We find that the effect of rental assistance on missed school days is stronger for adolescents than for younger children. Additionally, race-stratified analyses reveal that rental assistance leads to fewer missed days due to illness among non-Hispanic White and Hispanic/Latino children; this effect, however, is not evident for non-Hispanic Black children, the largest racial/ethnic group receiving assistance. These findings suggest that underinvestment in affordable housing may impede socioeconomic mobility among disadvantaged non-Hispanic White and Hispanic/Latino children. In contrast, increases in rental assistance may widen racial/ethnic disparities in health among disadvantaged children, and future research should examine why this benefit is not evident for Black children.
AB - Programs that provide affordable and stable housing may contribute to better child health and thus to fewer missed days of school. Drawing on a unique linkage of survey and administrative data, we use a quasi-experimental approach to examine the impact of rental assistance programs on missed days of school due to illness. We compare missed school days due to illness among children receiving rental assistance with those who will enter assistance within two years of their interview, the average length of waitlists for federal rental assistance. Overall, we find that children who receive rental assistance miss fewer days of school due to illness relative to those in the pseudo-waitlist group. We demonstrate that rental assistance leads to a reduction in the number of health problems among children and thus to fewer days of school missed due to illness. We find that the effect of rental assistance on missed school days is stronger for adolescents than for younger children. Additionally, race-stratified analyses reveal that rental assistance leads to fewer missed days due to illness among non-Hispanic White and Hispanic/Latino children; this effect, however, is not evident for non-Hispanic Black children, the largest racial/ethnic group receiving assistance. These findings suggest that underinvestment in affordable housing may impede socioeconomic mobility among disadvantaged non-Hispanic White and Hispanic/Latino children. In contrast, increases in rental assistance may widen racial/ethnic disparities in health among disadvantaged children, and future research should examine why this benefit is not evident for Black children.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85114697605&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85114697605&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1215/00703370-9305166
DO - 10.1215/00703370-9305166
M3 - Article
C2 - 33970240
AN - SCOPUS:85114697605
SN - 0070-3370
VL - 58
SP - 1171
EP - 1195
JO - Demography
JF - Demography
IS - 4
ER -