Working Paper: NBER ID: w14570
Authors: Brian A. Jacob; Jens Ludwig
Abstract: This study estimates the effects of means-tested housing programs on labor supply using data from a randomized housing voucher wait-list lottery in Chicago. Evidence for the net effects of housing programs on labor supply is central to a wide range of policy decisions about how to provide housing assistance to the poor. Economic theory is ambiguous about the expected sign of any labor supply response. We find that among working-age, able-bodied adults, housing voucher use reduces quarterly labor force participation rates by 4 percentage points (6 percent of the control complier mean) and quarterly earnings by $285 (10 percent), and increases social program participation rates by 2 percentage points (16 percent of the control mean). These impacts are toward the lower end of the range of recent estimates from other studies of housing programs, but nonetheless do still imply that housing vouchers reduce labor supply.
Keywords: housing assistance; labor supply; voucher lottery; Chicago
JEL Codes: I38; J22
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| housing voucher use (R21) | quarterly labor force participation rates (J49) |
| housing voucher use (R21) | quarterly earnings (G35) |
| housing voucher use (R21) | participation in social programs (TANF) (H53) |