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Child Health and Neighborhood Conditions: Results from a Randomized Housing Voucher Experiment

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  • Jane G. Fortson
  • Lisa Sanbonmatsu

Abstract

Using data from the Moving to Opportunity randomized housing voucher experiment, we estimate the direct effects of housing and neighborhood quality on child health. We show that, five years after random assignment, housing mobility has little impact on overall health status, asthma, injuries, and body mass index. The few effects that we observe imply that being offered a voucher through the program might worsen some aspects of child health, despite significant improvements in housing quality, nutrition and exercise, and neighborhood safety. Our results are inconsistent with the hypothesis that neighborhood conditions explain much of the widely-cited income gradient in child health.

Suggested Citation

  • Jane G. Fortson & Lisa Sanbonmatsu, 2010. "Child Health and Neighborhood Conditions: Results from a Randomized Housing Voucher Experiment," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 45(4), pages 840-864.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:45:y:2010:i:4:p:840-864
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    Cited by:

    1. Jens Ludwig & Jeffrey R. Kling & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2011. "Mechanism Experiments and Policy Evaluations," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 25(3), pages 17-38, Summer.
    2. Fan, Yingling & Chen, Qian, 2012. "Family functioning as a mediator between neighborhood conditions and children's health: Evidence from a national survey in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(12), pages 1939-1947.
    3. Gennetian, Lisa A. & Sciandra, Matthew & Sanbonmatsu, Lisa & Ludwig, Jens & Katz, Lawrence F. & Duncan, Greg J. & Kling, Jeffrey R. & Kessler, Ronald, 2012. "The Long-Term Effects of Moving to Opportunity on Youth Outcomes," Scholarly Articles 33950779, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    4. Brown, Caitlin & Ravallion, Martin & van de Walle, Dominique, 2023. "Child health and the housing environment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    5. Elisabeth Bügelmayer & Daniel D. Schnitzlein, 2018. "Is it the family or the neighborhood? Evidence from sibling and neighbor correlations in youth education and health," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 16(3), pages 369-388, September.
    6. Alexander, Diane & Currie, Janet, 2017. "Is it who you are or where you live? Residential segregation and racial gaps in childhood asthma," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 186-200.
    7. Jacob, Brian A. & Ludwig, Jens & Miller, Douglas L., 2013. "The effects of housing and neighborhood conditions on child mortality," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 195-206.
    8. Schmidt, Nicole M. & Lincoln, Alisa K. & Nguyen, Quynh C. & Acevedo-Garcia, Dolores & Osypuk, Theresa L., 2014. "Examining mediators of housing mobility on adolescent asthma: Results from a housing voucher experiment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 136-144.
    9. Eriksen, Michael D. & Greenhalgh-Stanley, Nadia & Engelhardt, Gary V., 2015. "Home safety, accessibility, and elderly health: Evidence from falls," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 14-24.
    10. Ludwig, Jens & Duncan, Greg J. & Katz, Lawrence F. & Kessler, Ronald & Kling, Jeffrey R. & Gennetian, Lisa A. & Sanbonmatsu, Lisa, 2012. "Neighborhood Effects on the Long-Term Well-Being of Low-Income Adults," Scholarly Articles 11870359, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    11. Tyrone C. Cheng & Celia C. Lo, 2022. "Testing the Multiple Disadvantage Model of Health with Ethnic Asian Children: A Secondary Data Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-11, December.
    12. Galárraga, Omar & Rana, Aadia & Rahman, Momotazur & Cohen, Mardge & Adimora, Adaora A. & Sosanya, Oluwakemi & Holman, Susan & Kassaye, Seble & Milam, Joel & Cohen, Jennifer & Golub, Elizabeth T. & Met, 2018. "The effect of unstable housing on HIV treatment biomarkers: An instrumental variables approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 70-82.

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