Race, housing policy, and the demographic and spatial structure of modern housing programs: Who receives rental assistance and where do they live?

Housing policy in the United States has long been characterized by unequal investment in homeownership and low-income rental assistance, with implications for racial (and ethnic) inequality in access to stable housing. In this study, I examine socioeconomic status and neighborhood characteristics of non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic Black adults with children receiving HUD rental assistance using a nationally representative linked survey-administrative dataset. Results show that Black and White adults who receive rental assistance tend to have similar (low) incomes, yet Black adults experience significantly higher levels of neighborhood disadvantage than White adults.

Do later school start times improve adolescents' sleep and substance use? A quasi-experimental study.

Objective: A later school start time policy has been recommended as a solution to adolescents' sleep deprivation. We estimated the impacts of later school start times on adolescents' sleep and substance use by leveraging a quasi-experiment in which school start time was delayed in some regions in South Korea.

Methods: A later school start time policy was implemented in 2014 and 2015, which delayed school start times by approximately 30-90 minutes.

Federal Housing Assistance and Blood Lead Levels in a Nationally Representative US Sample Age 6 and Older: NHANES, 1999-2018.

Background: Federal housing assistance is an important policy tool to ensure housing security for low-income households. Less is known about its impact on residential environmental exposures, particularly lead.

Objectives: We conducted a quasi-experimental study to investigate the association between federal housing assistance and blood lead levels (BLLs) in a nationally representative US sample age 6 y and older eligible for housing assistance.

Association Between Rental Assistance Programs and Undiagnosed Diabetes Among U.S.

Background: Rental assistance programs have been linked to better housing quality, stability, healthcare access, and reduced likelihood of uncontrolled diabetes. However, its direct association with diabetes screening is uncertain.

Objective: To determine whether federal rental assistance programs are associated with lower odds of undiagnosed diabetes.

Exposing Pittsburgh Landlords To Asset-Framing Narratives: An Experiment To Increase Housing Voucher Participation.

Landlords are essential actors within the rental housing market, and there is much to be learned about their willingness to participate in rental assistance programs that improve access to stable housing. Because the success of these programs, such as the Mobility (Location-Based) Voucher program in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, can be derailed by landlord opposition, it is important to test strategies that increase landlords' participation. Using data from a unique survey of Pittsburgh landlords, we found that exposing landlords to an asset-framing narrative that highlighted the social, economic, and health benefits of receiving a mobility voucher increased landlords' reported willingness to rent to a mobility voucher recipient by 21 percentage points.

Rental assistance improves food security and nutrition: An analysis of National Survey Data.

The U.S. is experiencing a severe housing affordability crisis, resulting in households having to make difficult trade-offs between paying for a place to live and basic health necessities such as food.

Association Between Rental Assistance Programs and Hemoglobin A1c Levels Among US Adults.

Importance: Programs that provide affordable and stable housing, such as federal rental assistance, may be associated with improved mean blood glucose levels and related diabetes outcomes.

Objective: To assess whether 2 different types of federal rental assistance programs are associated with glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels among middle-aged and older US adults.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) linked with US Department of Housing and Urban Development records of rental assistance participation.

Does Public Housing Increase the Risk of Child Health Problems? Evidence from Linked Survey-Administrative Data.

Research on the effects of major federal housing assistance programs on children's outcomes has produced mixed results. Although housing assistance programs provide one of the few sources of affordable and stable housing for low-income families, there remains concern that living in public housing developments increases the risk of poor health for children. This paper uses a unique survey-administrative linked dataset to examine the effect of living in public housing on children's risk of health problems, including frequent diarrhea, frequent headaches, skin allergies, asthma, and fair/poor health status.

A longitudinal analysis of the relationship between housing insecurity and physical health among midlife and aging adults in the United States.

Rationale: A large body of work demonstrates the impact of housing instability on health by exploring the effects of evictions and homelessness on psychological wellbeing of young adults and children. However, limited research leverages national longitudinal data to examine whether and how experiences of a range of housing insecurity events, rather than just eviction or homelessness, affect physical health among midlife and older adults.

Objective: The current study examines (1) prevalence of housing insecurity among midlife and older adults by age and race, (2) linkages between housing insecurity experiences and facets of physical health, and (3) age and race moderations on these effects.

Development of a multidimensional housing and environmental quality index (HEQI): application to the American Housing Survey.

Background: Substandard housing conditions and hazardous indoor environmental exposures contribute to significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Housing indices that capture the multiple dimensions of healthy housing are important for tracking conditions and identifying vulnerable households. However, most indices focus on physical deficiencies and repair costs and omit indoor environmental exposures, as few national data sources routinely collect this information.

Emerging political and demographic divides: State politics, welfare generosity, and adult mortality in U.S. states 1977-2017.

Geographic disparities in adult mortality within the US have grown over the past several decades, but the reasons for these trends remain unclear. In this article, we examine trends in adult mortality (ages 55+) across US states from 1977 to 2017, paying close attention to the shifting geographic pattern of high- and low-mortality states. We find that states in the South tended to fall behind the rest of the country in the 1970s and 1980s, while states in the Great Plains and Mountain West tended to fall behind in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s.

Does rental assistance improve mental health? Insights from a longitudinal cohort study.

Almost half of renters in the United States are rent-burdened, meaning that they pay more than 30% of their income toward housing costs. Rental assistance through programs administered by the U.S.

The Benefits of Rental Assistance for Children's Health and School Attendance in the United States.

Programs that provide affordable and stable housing may contribute to better child health and thus to fewer missed days of school. Drawing on a unique linkage of survey and administrative data, we use a quasi-experimental approach to examine the impact of rental assistance programs on missed days of school due to illness. We compare missed school days due to illness among children receiving rental assistance with those who will enter assistance within two years of their interview, the average length of waitlists for federal rental assistance.

Disparities in Health Care Access and Utilization at the Intersections of Urbanicity and Sexual Identity in California.

The aim was to examine differences in health care access at the intersections of urbanicity and sexual identity in California. We used the 2014-2017 Adult California Health Interview Survey paired with the sexual orientation special use research file to create dummy groups representing each dimension of urbanicity and sexual identity to compare access to health care outcomes. We calculated unadjusted proportions and estimated adjusted odds ratios of each dimension relative to urban heterosexual people using logistic regressions.

Association of Childhood Asthma With Federal Rental Assistance.

Importance: Millions of low-income children in the United States reside in substandard or unaffordable housing. Relieving these burdens may be associated with changes in asthma outcomes.

Objectives: To examine whether participation in the US Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) rental assistance programs is associated with childhood asthma outcomes and to examine whether associations varied by program type (public housing, multifamily housing, or housing choice vouchers).

Life and Death in the American City: Men's Life Expectancy in 25 Major American Cities From 1990 to 2015.

The past several decades have witnessed growing geographic disparities in life expectancy within the United States, yet the mortality experience of U.S. cities has received little attention.

Black-White Disparities in Preterm Birth: Geographic, Social, and Health Determinants.

Introduction: Reducing racial/ethnic disparities in preterm birth is a priority for U.S. public health programs.

The Impact of Housing Assistance on the Mental Health of Children in the United States.

Housing assistance policies may lead to improved mental health for children and adolescents by improving housing quality, stability, and affordability. We use a unique data linkage of the National Health Interview Survey and U.S.

Misclassification of Rental Assistance in the National Health Interview Survey: Evidence and Implications.

Background: Federal surveys could play a role in measuring the association of rental assistance and health and in identifying the health needs of the assisted population. However, self-reports of rental assistance could be biased. Our objective was to assess the accuracy of reported rental assistance in the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).

Housing Assistance and Child Health: A Systematic Review.

Context: Given a large and consistent literature revealing a link between housing and health, publicly supported housing assistance programs might play an important role in promoting the health of disadvantaged children.

Objective: To summarize and evaluate research in which authors examine housing assistance and child health.

Data Sources: PubMed, Web of Science, PsycInfo, and PAIS (1990-2017).

Immigration, citizenship, and the mental health of adolescents.

Purpose: To examine the reported mental health outcomes of adolescent foreign-born non-citizens and adolescent foreign-born U.S. citizens compared to adolescent U.

A comprehensive analysis of the mortality experience of hispanic subgroups in the United States: Variation by age, country of origin, and nativity.

Although those identifying as "Hispanic or Latino" experience lower adult mortality than the more socioeconomically advantaged non-Hispanic white population, the ethnic category Hispanic conceals variation by country of origin, nativity, age, and immigration experience. The current analysis examines adult mortality differentials among 12 Hispanic subgroups by region of origin and nativity, and non-Hispanic whites, adjusting for socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. We use the National Health Interview Survey Linked Mortality Files pooled 1990-2009 to obtain sufficient sample of each subgroup to calculate mortality estimates by sex and age group (25-64, 65+).

Rethinking the Hispanic Paradox: The Mortality Experience of Mexican Immigrants in Traditional Gateways and New Destinations.

Mexican immigrants enjoy a substantial mortality advantage over non-Hispanic whites in the US, although their health declines with greater duration of residence. Many previous studies have suggested this advantage reflects higher levels of social support among Mexicans in enclave communities with high co-ethnic density. As the Mexican-origin population in the US has grown, it has expanded outside traditional gateway cities in California and Texas to new destinations throughout the US, and it has become increasingly important to understand how settlement in new destinations impacts the health of Mexican immigrants.