The Benefits and Costs of the Section 8 Housing Subsidy Program: A Framework and First-Year Estimates

Abstract

The authors provide estimates of the social benefits and costs of the Section 8 housing subsidy program. Their analysis rests on a series of studies in which they estimate the effects of voucher receipt on a variety of recipient living unit behaviors, including movement to new neighborhoods, employment, earnings, and the receipt of public benefits: child-care subsidies, medical care assistance, and welfare assistance.