The effects of federal housing assistance on exiting welfare and becoming employed for welfare recipients

Welfare reform's success in encouraging employment may be affected by the federal housing program because many households receive welfare and housing assistance. Housing assistance could discourage employment because housing subsidies are reduced proportionally with earnings; alternatively, it could encourage employment by increasing stability and allowing more resources to be allocated toward employment-related expenses. We examine housing assistance's effects on exiting welfare and becoming employed. Remaining on welfare is positively associated with receiving housing assistance, but fixed effects models suggest this is due to correlation with unmeasured factors rather than a causal effect. We find little association between housing assistance and employment.