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Life Shocks and Homelessness

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  • Marah Curtis
  • Hope Corman
  • Kelly Noonan
  • Nancy Reichman

Abstract

We exploited an exogenous health shock—namely, the birth of a child with a severe health condition—to investigate the effect of a life shock on homelessness in large cities in the United States as well as the interactive effects of the shock with housing market characteristics. We considered a traditional measure of homelessness, two measures of housing instability thought to be precursors to homelessness, and a combined measure that approximates the broadened conceptualization of homelessness under the 2009 Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act ( 2010 ). We found that the shock substantially increases the likelihood of family homelessness, particularly in cities with high housing costs. The findings are consistent with the economic theory of homelessness, which posits that homelessness results from a conjunction of adverse circumstances in which housing markets and individual characteristics collide. Copyright Population Association of America 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Marah Curtis & Hope Corman & Kelly Noonan & Nancy Reichman, 2013. "Life Shocks and Homelessness," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(6), pages 2227-2253, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:50:y:2013:i:6:p:2227-2253
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-013-0230-4
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    15. Hope Corman & Kelly Noonan & Nancy E. Reichman, 2005. "Mother's Labor Supply in Fragile Families: The Role of Child Health," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 31(4), pages 601-616, Fall.
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    Cited by:

    1. Moschion, Julie & van Ours, Jan C., 2022. "Do early episodes of depression and anxiety make homelessness more likely?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 654-674.
    2. Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & Anna Zhu, 2017. "Childhood homelessness and adult employment: the role of education, incarceration, and welfare receipt," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 30(3), pages 893-924, July.
    3. Locks, Gedeão & Thuilliez, Josselin, 2023. "The impact of minimum income on homelessness: Evidence from France," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    4. Devin Q. Rutan & Matthew Desmond, 2021. "The Concentrated Geography of Eviction," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 693(1), pages 64-81, January.
    5. Nancy Reichman & Hope Corman & Kelly Noonan, 2015. "Effects of maternal depression on couple relationship status," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 929-973, December.
    6. Tammy Leonard & Amy E. Hughes & Sandi L. Pruitt, 2017. "Understanding How Low–Socioeconomic Status Households Cope with Health Shocks," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 669(1), pages 125-145, January.
    7. Moschion, Julie & van Ours, Jan C., 2019. "Do childhood experiences of parental separation lead to homelessness?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 211-236.
    8. Corman, Hope & Curtis, Marah A. & Noonan, Kelly & Reichman, Nancy E., 2016. "Maternal depression as a risk factor for children's inadequate housing conditions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 76-83.
    9. Frijters, Paul & Krekel, Christian & Ulker, Aydogan, 2020. "Machiavelli versus concave utility functions: should bads be spread out or concentrated?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108421, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    10. Scheffler, Bernie, 2020. ""It's Real": Experiences of Family Homelessness in Fort Worth, Texas," Thesis Commons u2n6p, Center for Open Science.
    11. McVicar, Duncan & Moschion, Julie & van Ours, Jan C., 2015. "From substance use to homelessness or vice versa?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 136, pages 89-98.
    12. Timothy M. Diette & David C. Ribar, 2018. "A Longitudinal Analysis Of Violence And Housing Insecurity," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(3), pages 1602-1621, July.
    13. Frijters, Paul & Krekel, Christian & Ulker, Aydogan, 2023. "Should bads be inflicted all at once, like Machiavelli said? Evidence from life-satisfaction data," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 1-27.
    14. Lee, Christopher Thomas & Guzman, David & Ponath, Claudia & Tieu, Lina & Riley, Elise & Kushel, Margot, 2016. "Residential patterns in older homeless adults: Results of a cluster analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 131-140.
    15. Noonan, Kelly & Corman, Hope & Reichman, Nancy E., 2016. "Effects of maternal depression on family food insecurity," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 201-215.
    16. Gold, Sarah & Wagner, Brandon, 2022. "Acute care utilization and housing hardships in American children," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    17. Kelly Noonan & Hope Corman & Nancy E. Reichman, 2014. "Effects of Maternal Depression on Family Food Insecurity," NBER Working Papers 20113, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. O'Flaherty, Brendan, 2019. "Homelessness research: A guide for economists (and friends)," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 1-25.
    19. Scheffler, Bernie, 2020. ""It's Real": Experiences of Family Homelessness in Fort Worth, Texas," SocArXiv ya7m6, Center for Open Science.
    20. Hashmi, Rubayyat & Alam, Khorshed & Gow, Jeff, 2020. "Socioeconomic inequalities in mental health in Australia: Explaining life shock exposure," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(1), pages 97-105.
    21. Anne Clark, 2018. "The role of residential mobility in reproducing socioeconomic stratification during the transition to adulthood," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 38(7), pages 169-196.
    22. Barrett A. Lee & Marybeth Shinn & Dennis P. Culhane, 2021. "Homelessness as a Moving Target," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 693(1), pages 8-26, January.
    23. Corman, Hope & Noonan, Kelly & Reichman, Nancy E., 2014. "Effects of infant health on family food insecurity: Evidence from two U.S. birth cohort studies," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 18-25.

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