Public Housing Assistance And Welfare-to-Work Transition

"Using data for welfare recipients who left the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program during 1996 in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), Ohio, the authors compare the determinants of labor market outcomes across three classes of housing assistance: those who receive a certificate or voucher, those who reside in a traditional public housing project, and those who reside in a Section 8 housing project... Welfare exiters receiving certificates and vouchers are employed closer to their homes, spend less time commuting to work, have superior public transit connections to their jobs, and generally have greater access to job openings relative to those who live in housing projects or receive no assistance. This evidence is consistent with the notion that certificate and voucher recipients have the spatial and economic flexibility in residential choice and that they exercise this choice to reduce commuting distance and time." [Editor's note: the link below is to a PDF document.]