Public housing revisited: Racial differences, housing assistance, and socioeconomic attainment among low-income families

This study investigates racial differences in the short-term and long-term effect of living in public housing as a child on socioeconomic attainment among young adults from low-income families. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 data and state-level public housing information, propensity score matching estimations addressed the self-selection problems encountered when evaluating the impact of welfare programs. The study findings indicate that Blacks with short-term public housing residence during adolescence seem to be more disadvantaged in terms of housing self-sufficiency and car ownership in an early adulthood than their low-income Black counterparts who lived in private housing. In the long run; however, public housing residence had very small effects on socioeconomic attainment of both White and Black young adults. The benefits of public housing in terms of providing a secure residence for economically vulnerable groups; therefore, outweigh any potential negative impacts.