Housing Assistance and the Effects of Welfare Reform

The fact that many of the people living in public or other government-subsidized housing are also welfare recipients means that the progress that those tenants make toward self sufficiency may be substantially influenced by the performance of mainstream (that is, non-housing) welfare-to-work programs and policies. Conversely, the fact that many welfare recipients receive government housing assistance (over 30 percent nationally, but much higher in some cities) means that the responses of subsidized tenants may influence the overall accomplishments of welfare reform initiatives. Only recently, however, have studies begun to explore the relationship between housing status and the effectiveness of welfare policies. A better understanding of this relationship may be important to continued efforts to increase economic self -sufficiency in both the assisted housing and the welfare policy arenas.