Race, ethnicity, and household characteristics of section 8 housing clients and their impact on adjacent housing quality

The authors examine how assisted housing units with householders belonging to different racial/ethnic groups receiving Section 8 vouchers and certificates effect change in housing quality of adjacent structures. Rather than relying on traditional measures of housing value as surrogates of quality, an aggregate index of housing quality was obtained from data available in two Housing Condition Evaluation surveys conducted by the city of Phoenix in 1980 and 1994. The quality change in these units was modeled using logistic regressions with the help of neighborhood demographic and housing parameters and fixed effects. The results suggest small but significant negative impacts on housing quality within a range of 0.5 miles of assisted housing units but positive impacts if the household is female headed, all else held constant.