Do Increases in Subsidized Housing Reduce the Incidence of Homelessness?: Evidence from the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit

45 Pages Posted: 19 Oct 2015

See all articles by Osborne Jackson

Osborne Jackson

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

Laura Kawano

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor

Date Written: 2015-05-01

Abstract

The provision of affordable housing for low-income families is often cited by policymakers and advocacy groups as a necessity for ending homelessness. The U.S. government spends a considerable amount on housing programs for the nation's poor, and the use of federal housing programs to mitigate homelessness has attracted increasing interest following the recent financial downturn and housing market crisis. While important for housing policy, however, the question of whether subsidized housing is effective for combating homelessness remains unresolved. In this paper, the authors examine the impact of subsidized housing on homelessness using the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), the largest place-based housing program in the United States.

Keywords: low-income housing, tax credits, homelessness, regression discontinuity

JEL Classification: H20, H31, I32, R21, R31

Suggested Citation

Jackson, Osborne and Kawano, Laura, Do Increases in Subsidized Housing Reduce the Incidence of Homelessness?: Evidence from the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (2015-05-01). FRB of Boston Working Paper No. 15-11, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2675694

Osborne Jackson (Contact Author)

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston ( email )

600 Atlantic Avenue
Boston, MA 02210
United States

Laura Kawano

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor ( email )

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