Project Summary:
CoLab Funds Research on Housing Choice Vouchers’ Impact on Children’s Pathways to Opportunity
Landmark Study Tracks Over 10,000 Children to Examine How Housing Vouchers Shape Health, Education, and Economic Mobility.
In 2022, half of U.S. renters paid over 30% of their income toward rent, with 83% of families earning under $30,000 facing severe rent burden. In response, the federal government’s Housing Choice Vouchers program (also known as Section 8) serves 5 million Americans annually as the nation’s largest rental assistance program. Many more housing vouchers are funded by states and local jurisdictions. Previous evaluations show positive effects of housing vouchers on housing outcomes and reducing homelessness, but evidence on their impacts for children’s education and long-term outcomes remains limited. CoLab has awarded funding to the New York University (NYU) Furman Center to help address this gap with a first-of-its-kind study with a large sample in New York City.
Partners
NYU Furman Center
The NYU Furman Center is a joint center of NYU School of Law and the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service dedicated to advancing evidence-based housing and urban policy through rigorous research. In 2012, the center received the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions in recognition of its excellence in providing objective, policy-relevant research.
Key collaborators include the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA); the NYC Department of Social Services/Department of Homeless Services; NYU’s Health Evaluation and Analytics Lab; NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s Health x Housing Lab; and the NYC Department of Education.
What they will do
This study leverages a randomly ordered waitlist of 200,000 households to conduct one of the largest evaluations of housing vouchers ever and will provide unprecedented evidence on the impacts of housing vouchers on children’s outcomes. NYCHA expects to issue approximately 5,000 vouchers during 2025-2026.
NYU’s Furman Center will compare outcomes for children whose families receive vouchers with a comparison group from the waitlist whose families will not receive vouchers during the study period. The study will also assess which families benefit most from housing vouchers to inform targeting of limited resources.
The research team will use multiple sources of data to measure housing outcomes (homelessness, residential stability, neighborhood and housing quality), health outcomes (including BMI, fitness, and healthcare expenditures), and education outcomes (attendance, test scores, grade retention, special education status) for up to 24 months to begin with. Researchers will also look for differences in benefits by child age, race and ethnicity, household composition, and origin neighborhood. The team will also calculate return on investment (ROI) by comparing program costs to savings from reduced shelter use and healthcare utilization and projected earnings increases from educational outcomes.
Grant type:
- Long-term outcomes
Focus area:
- Affordable housing and homelessness prevention (housing vouchers)
population:
- Families with children
Geographic Context:
- Does not include any sites in Minnesota (New York City)
When it will happen
The four-year project began in January 2026 and will continue through December 2028. NYCHA will issue vouchers through 2026, and the study will track outcomes for up to 2 years after voucher issuance during the initial grant period to capture effects on children’s housing, health, and education. Like most CoLab-funded evaluations, future potential CoLab funding could support continued follow-up over many years to track sustained outcomes and long-term impact on economic mobility.
Why it matters
Most families struggling with a high rent burden do not currently get housing vouchers, whether from federal, state or local sources. Prior research shows vouchers reduce rent burden and homelessness, but we need better data on long-term effects and children’s outcomes. With vacancy rates falling and housing costs rising nationwide, better data could help policy-makers understand where and how to make smart investments in housing assistance. This study addresses critical gaps at a pivotal moment when policymakers debate program expansions or cuts.
The research directly aligns with CoLab’s mission to invest in actionable evidence on solutions that bolster upward mobility and support thriving communities.
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