The Effects of Rental Assistance on Housing Stability, Quality, Autonomy, and Affordability

Federal rental assistance is an important source of affordable housing for low-income households, given a growing and severe affordable housing crisis. However, few studies have examined the extent to which rental assistance may improve housing access. This article examines associations between rental assistance receipt and four dimensions of housing: quality, stability, autonomy, and affordability. We draw on data from a longitudinal cohort study of low-income adults in New Haven, Connecticut, and use generalized estimating equations to examine associations between rental assistance receipt and housing measures. We find that participants receiving rental assistance had lower odds of reporting housing instability, low-quality housing, lack of autonomy related to housing, and some measures of housing unaffordability compared with those not receiving assistance. The large and highly significant effects remain after adjusting for demographic variables and factors that can impact access to rental assistance.