Temporary Rent Assistance Promotes Job Stability

Critics of temporary rental assistance argue that it gives people the financial leeway to work less. But that was not the case for low-income workers in Chicago.

The workers, who received up to $1,000 to get them out of a jam, had more stable employment than the people who did not receive any help, according to University of Notre Dame research. The earnings of the lowest-income families who received the assistance even increased a little bit.

Stable housing is crucial to remaining employed. When a family is unable to make a month’s rent, a downward spiral can result from a relocation or even homelessness that makes it difficult to keep their jobs.

Rental assistance, by preventing calamity, stabilizes a family’s finances and “encourages work among the lowest-income participants,” the researchers said.

In the Chicago program, residents in need of help can call the city’s 311 hotline to be connected to the Homelessness Prevention Call Center, which refers them to various agencies around the city that can provide up to $1,000. The availability of funds is very uneven from month to month, but about two-thirds of the families that call in, on average, receive some money.

And in a population that, by definition, has low incomes, the lowest-income families benefited the most from getting these funds, the researchers said.

They were able to track the tenants’ employment and earnings for years by linking the personal information provided by the housing program to IRS data with their annual earnings. Very low-wage workers who got assistance earned $400 to $500 more over a four-year period – a significant sum for them.

Critics of rental assistance “underestimate their benefits,” the researchers concluded.

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