This article was originally published in December 2017.
A new working paper by Life Course Centre Associate Investigator Professor Barbara Wolfe, along with her colleagues Dr Deven Carlson, Hannah Miller, Professor Emeritus Robert Haveman, Sohyun Kang, and Alex Schmidt, investigates the relationship between housing assistance and children’s educational achievements.
The authors describe the relationship between neighbourhoods characterised by higher levels of socioeconomic advantage and the higher quality of public schools in those neighbourhoods. Low-income families who receive housing assistance, both in the form of subsidies and public housing, are able to use this assistance as a means to gain access to these ‘better’ neighbourhoods and schools.
Their research investigates the test scores of children whose families received housing assistance and compared them to similar children who had not received housing assistance. They found that housing assistance in the form of subsidies and vouchers was positively associated with higher maths scores over a two- to three-year period. Their research also found that public housing resulted in lower maths scores.
Their research provides an in-depth look at the different impacts observable on the children of families who receive difference in types of housing assistance. They call for further research to continue investigating the nuanced way housing assistance can improve the quality of life for low-income families.
Read their article, here.