Volume 17, Issue 4

2006 

Emily K. Snell and Greg J. Duncan

 

Voucher-based programs have become the most common form of housing
assistance for low-income families in the United States, yet only a slim majority
of households that are offered vouchers actually move with them. This article
uses data from 2,938 households in the Moving to Opportunity demonstration
program to examine whether child characteristics influence the probability that
a household will successfully use a housing voucher to lease-up.

Our results suggest that while many child characteristics have little bearing
on the use of housing vouchers, child health, behavioral, and educational problems,
particularly the presence of multiple problems in a household, do have an
influence. Households with two or more child problems are 7 percentage
points less likely to move than those who have none of these problems or only
one. Results suggest that such families may need additional support to benefit
from housing vouchers or alternative types of affordable housing units.