Haltiwanger compares voucher programs to public housing
Faculty associate John Haltiwanger and colleagues used a combination of Census data and data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to identify children between the ages 13 and 18 in 2000, whose families received government housing assistance. Dr. Haltiwanger then compared siblings whose families received assistance through a voucher program, versus siblings whose families were given public housing.
Results show that housing assistance improves income and incarceration outcomes for young people with both programs. However, voucher programs typically lead to better outcomes for girls than for boys. Overall, the research did not find that voucher programs were better in terms of areas of settlement, since the poverty levels of voucher and public housing neighborhoods were found to be comparable.