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

65 Pages Posted: 22 Nov 2016

See all articles by Fredrik Andersson

Fredrik Andersson

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)

John Haltiwanger

University of Maryland - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Mark J. Kutzbach

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

Giordano E Palloni

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Henry Pollakowski

Harvard University - Harvard Graduate School of Design

Daniel H. Weinberg

DHW Consulting

Multiple version iconThere are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: November 1, 2016

Abstract

To date, research on the long-term effects of childhood participation in voucher-assisted and public housing has been limited by the lack of data and suitable identification strategies. We create a national level longitudinal data set that enables us to analyze how children’s housing experiences affect adult earnings and incarceration rates. While naive estimates suggest there are substantial negative consequences to childhood participation in voucher-assisted and public housing, this result appears to be driven largely by selection of households into housing assistance programs. To mitigate this source of bias, we employ household fixed-effects specifications that use only within-household (across-sibling) variation for identification. Compared to naive specifications, household fixed-effects estimates for earnings are universally more positive, and they suggest that there are positive and statistically significant benefits from childhood residence in assisted housing on young adult earnings for nearly all demographic groups. Childhood participation in assisted housing also reduces the likelihood of incarceration across all household race/ethnicity groups. Time spent in voucher-assisted or public housing is especially beneficial for females from non-Hispanic Black households, who experience substantial increases in expected earnings and lower incarceration rates.

JEL Classification: H43; I31; I38; J38; J62

Suggested Citation

Andersson, Per Fredrik Daniel and Haltiwanger, John C. and Kutzbach, Mark J. and Palloni, Giordano E and Pollakowski, Henry O. and Weinberg, Daniel H., Childhood Housing and Adult Earnings: A Between-Siblings Analysis of Housing Vouchers and Public Housing (November 1, 2016). US Census Bureau Center for Economic Studies Paper No. CES-13-48RR, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2873835 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2873835

Per Fredrik Daniel Andersson (Contact Author)

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) ( email )

400 7th St. SW
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John C. Haltiwanger

University of Maryland - Department of Economics ( email )

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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

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Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
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Mark J. Kutzbach

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) ( email )

550 17th Street NW
Washington, DC 20006

Giordano E Palloni

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) ( email )

1201 Eye St, NW,
Washington, DC 20005
United States

Henry O. Pollakowski

Harvard University - Harvard Graduate School of Design ( email )

48 Quincy Street
Gund Hall
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Daniel H. Weinberg

DHW Consulting ( email )

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