Abstract

The high proportion of income that poor families spend on housing can have deleterious consequences for a child’s healthy development. This article asks whether the increased affordability provided by government housing assistance translates into benefits for children. Do assisted housing parents spend more on child enrichment, leading in turn to their children’s healthier development relative to similar income-eligible families not receiving government housing assistance? We use longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), the PSID’s Child Development Supplements, and the PSID-Assisted Housing Database and apply propensity weights and instrumental variables to address selection. Sample sizes are 205 children in the assisted housing group and 470 children in the unassisted group. We find convincing evidence that assisted housing parents invest more in their child’s enrichment than their unassisted counterparts do. These investments benefit their children’s cognitive achievement and overall health, with less consistent effects on socioemotional adjustment.

摘要

贫困家庭花在住房上的收入比例很高，可能对孩子的健康成长产生有害影响。本文询问政府住房援助提供的增加的负担能力是否转化为对儿童的好处。与没有接受政府住房援助的类似收入合格家庭相比，获得援助住房的父母是否会在儿童充实方面花费更多，进而导致他们的孩子更健康地发展？我们使用来自收入动态面板研究 (PSID)、PSID 的儿童发展补充资料和 PSID 辅助住房数据库的纵向数据，并应用倾向权重和工具变量来解决选择问题。样本量是援助住房组的 205 名儿童和无援助组的 470 名儿童。我们发现令人信服的证据表明，与未获得援助的父母相比，获得援助的住房父母在孩子的充实方面投入更多。这些投资有利于孩子的认知成就和整体健康，但对社会情绪调整的影响不太一致。