OUP - Abstract

Impact of Rental Housing on Asset Development: Low-Income Female-Headed Households

Dissertation School: Brandeis University

Abstract:

Asset-based policy has provided an important new frame for social policy for families (McKernan and Sherraden, 2008; Oliver and Shapiro, 1995; Sherraden, 1991) in which to enhance their "long-term economic stability and social protection." Asset theory and research, however, does not address the role of rental housing, despite the fact that the majority of low-income families rent rather than own their homes (Rice and Sard 2009). Given the recent foreclosure crisis and tightening of credit, it can be expected that –especially in high cost environments- the percentage of renters will grow (Clement 2009). The families with children who live in these rental units need them to be safe, decent, stable, and affordable, among other attributes if they are going to be able to take steps to build their families' assets. The research continues to mount that families without such housing have health risks (Acevedo-Garcia 2000; Smith, Easterlow et al. 2003; Lubell, Crain et al. 2007), have poor school achievement ((Tucker, Marx et al. 1998; Crowley 2003; Lubell and Brennan 2007), and difficulty with work outcomes (Cove, Turner et al. 2008) among other issues. These difficulties translate into families- adult and child members- who are challenged in their ability to build assets for the future. Lowincome female headed households represent an important case to explore both because they are extremely vulnerable and two generations are at risk.

Asset policy has not explicitly addressed housing except within in an ownership framework. This study will investigate the impact of rental housing on asset development for low-income, female-headed households using the frame of adequate housing adopted by the United Nations Committee on Social, Cultural, and Economic Rights (CESCR 1991). The findings will contribute to asset theory and policy regarding rental housing.

The study design is mixed methods. To begin, qualitative data will be collected from a local sample and used to confirm and refine hypotheses, which will then be investigated further using a data from a nationally representative sample. Interviews will be conducted with thirty low-income, female-heads of household in Providence, Rhode Island, on their experiences in rental housing, including private market housing, private assisted and public units. The interviews will be semi-structured and explore the current and previous housing experiences (assuming a 5-year history) and if/how it has impacted the opportunities for the family to develop financial, social, and human capital assets. This project will focus on single mothers living alone with their children under eighteen whose annual incomes are at or below $37,250 or 50 percent of Area Median Income, an income level which exceeds the median for the neighborhoods of focus, and includes those families considered "working poor."

Respondents will be identified through outreach to the researcher's network of resident leader and organizational contacts in the South and Westside neighborhoods of Providence. The interviews will illuminate how rental housing impacted asset development efforts and what the most critical factors have been. These findings will then be translated into key housing and asset variables so that a few key variables can be examined for similar families in a national data sample. The proposed database is the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) over the most recent 5-year period. Using an appropriate longitudinal regression model three to five key housing attributes (for example, stability as indicated by the number of moves) will be tested for their relationship to family asset development variables such as employment, training, and educational outcomes. The mixed-method design and analyses will yield the most comprehensive findings on the impact of rental housing on asset development in low-income, female-headed households.

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