THE EFFECTS OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING ON CHILDREN'S WELL-BEING: PHASE TWO
Project: THE EFFECTS OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING ON CHILDREN’S WELL-BEING: PHASE TWO
Sponsor: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
IPS Staff: Sandra Newman, Scott Holupka, Amy Robie, and Laura Vernon-Russell
Purpose and Approach
Housing affordability is currently viewed as the most significant housing challenge. Over the last two decades the housing component of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) grew 35 percent faster than the general CPI. According to the 2008 State of the Nation’s Housing report, nearly one-quarter of renter households paid more than 50 percent of their incomes for rent in 2006. Housing affordability prob-lems could have deleterious effects on children’s well-being by reducing the resources the family can invest in their children, or by increasing the stress on parents. On the other hand, places with higher-priced housing tend to have better schools and lower crime rates, which could benefit children.
In the earlier phase of this study, we tested models using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) database, along with its Child Development Supplements (CDS). In this second phase, we are extend-ing our examination of the association between housing affordability and children’s outcomes by ana-lyzing a second national longitudinal survey database, the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth (NLSY).
Results
The PSID-CDS analysis suggests that children growing up in higher-priced housing markets fare no worse than those in lower-priced markets. There were no negative associations between housing prices and academic achievement, behavior or health. Nor was there any indication that parents living in higher-priced markets are more personally or emotionally stressed. Initial results from the NLSY anal-ysis closely mirror those from the PSID-CDS. There is little indication that children growing up in high-priced housing markets suffer cognitive achievement deficits or have behavior problems.
Publications
Newman, S. (2008). “Does Housing Matter for Poor Families? A Critical Summary of Research and Issues Still to be Resolved,” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 895-925.
Harkness, J., S. Newman and S. Holupka (2009). “Geographic Differences in Housing Prices and the Well-Being of Children and Parents,” Journal of Urban Affairs, vol. 31, no. 2, pp.123-146.
Holupka, S. and S. Newman (2009). “Unaffordable Housing and Children’s Well-Being.” Paper pre-sented at the mid-year meeting of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, Wash-ington, DC, June 5.
