Non-Housing Outcomes of Accessible and Affordable Housing Presentation to NHRC November 23rd, 2015 Steve Pomeroy Focus Consulting Inc. & Carleton University Centre for Urban Research and Education (CURE), Ottawa Focus Consulting inc. CURE (C) 2015

Objective Update review of empirical research evidence linking affordable adequate and stable housing to a range of outcomes Previous reviews SHS 2009: State of knowledge (education, skill development and employment) PRA 2011Measuring the Social, Economic and Environmental Outcomes of Good housing Purpose was to update with empirical literature since 2009 SHS 2009 Overview of Current state of Knowledge on Societal Outcomes of Housing – examined domains of education, skill development and employment PRA 2011 Measuring the Social, Economic and Environmental Outcomes of Good housing Focus Consulting inc. CURE (C) 2015

Themes examined Health Family stability Education Focus Consulting Inc. 2015 Themes examined Health Family stability Education Labour market and employment Crime and safety Multiple Outcomes

Identify research that explicitly examines housing Focus Consulting Inc. 2015 Identify research that explicitly examines housing Housing either the dependent variable; or One of a number of outcomes, but explicitly examined and empirically evaluated Identified 235 research articles (published since 2009) Retained 170 that had some element of empirical analysis

Focus on intentional interventions Focus Consulting Inc. 2015 Focus on intentional interventions Concept of “housing is complex and multi dimensional Sought to identify literature that was explicit about form of housing being assessed Policy perspective want to assess potential impacts of purposeful designed program and policy interventions E.g. what does “affordable housing entail” And provided empirical research evidence

Focus Consulting Inc. 2015 Nuanced findings Much rhetoric and generalizes about positive benefit of affordable and appropriate housing Little evidence of sound statistically reliable evidence directly linking a housing characteristic with a positive outcome Most outcomes are indirect and intermediate Linkages and association, but not necessarily causality (evidence is inconclusive)

Housing one of many influences Focus Consulting Inc. 2015 Housing one of many influences Other concurrent influences both mediate or reinforce housing effects Neighbourhood effects especially important In sum, the impacts of affordable housing are often hard to measure and to isolate from the impacts of other significant factors

Focus Consulting Inc. 2015 Conceptual framework

Limitations and caveats Focus Consulting Inc. 2015 Limitations and caveats Focus on empirical with defined housing intervention Heavy bias to US literature – demonstration research (MTO) a randomized experiment with control groups Focus on program outcomes – selection bias to more disadvantaged sample (including minorities and homeless) Limited empirical research on small scale community based, non US

Findings - Health Area with strongest evidence base Focus Consulting Inc. 2015 Findings - Health Area with strongest evidence base Dwelling condition related to molds toxins etc. as well as to risk of accidents Strong evidence of health impacts and costs Some evidence identifies mental health and stress associated with crowding, high costs and poor dwelling condition Results vary across socio-economic groups , gender and country

Findings- Family Stability Focus Consulting Inc. 2015 Findings- Family Stability Existence or absence of disruptive influences Stress, family breakdown, moving, homelessness Affordability positively associated with improved stability But overall residential instability yields mixed results Cumulative stress does impact children outcomes)

Findings - Education Inconclusive evidence Focus Consulting Inc. 2015 Findings - Education Inconclusive evidence Critical intervening influence of neighbourhood and mobility (much US research via MTO etc.) Education attainment mainly influenced by location (quality of schools) – different housing mechanisms can impact, e.g. if facilitate and result in moving to different schools

Findings – Employment and Labour Market Focus Consulting Inc. 2015 Findings – Employment and Labour Market Inconclusive empirical evidence re improved employment outcomes following affordable housing help Some negative outcomes due to work disincentive effects of affordable housing program design (especially RGI based)

Findings – Crime and safety Focus Consulting Inc. 2015 Findings – Crime and safety Research frequent reactive – re stereotyping of assisted housing as crime ridden Extensive research to try and explain and rationalize high crime rates in/near public housing Some improved safety under housing mobility programs

The research challenge Focus Consulting Inc. 2015 The research challenge Search for conclusive evidence is challenging Important of other concurrent influences, especially n’hood and family status, prior experience and sample selection bias It is not surprising that most empirical research finds that assisted tenants have lower employment and greater poverty. It is not because they are in assisted housing that they are poor; they are in assisted housing because they are poor and disadvantaged.

Research Implications Focus Consulting Inc. 2015 Research Implications Housing alone insufficient – require ancillary pro-active initiatives (skills training, parenting skills after school supports etc.) Can we assess the impacts of purposeful supports Non US (and especially Canadian) research is notably lacking, especially re smaller scale community based programing more typical in Canada

Focus Consulting Inc. 2015 Thank you!