2020/01/01 by Danya E. Keene, Linda M. Niccolai, Alana Rosenberg +2 · 2 citations
Health Professions · Social Sciences · #Homelessness and Social Issues #Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies #Health disparities and outcomes
paper · doi:10.1353/hpu.2020.0025
openalex publication_date 2020/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Rental assistance, in the form of vouchers and project-based subsidized housing, is a primary source of affordable housing for low-income Americans, given a growing and severe shortage of private-market rental units. However, due to supply constraints, fewer than one in four eligible households receive this kind of assistance. In this paper, we examine associations between receipt of rental assistance and self-rated health among a sample of 400 low-income adults in one U.S. city. We find that individuals who currently receive rental assistance have lower odds of reporting poor or fair self-rated health than individuals who are currently on rental assistance waiting lists. These relationships persist after adjusting for factors that affect access to rental assistance and are not significantly modified by criminal justice history. Our findings suggest that the current unmet need for rental assistance may contribute to poor health among low-income Americans.