Do Rental Assistance Programs Relieve Overcrowding for Children?

Crowded living conditions are associated with negative health outcomes, particularly for children. Federal rental assistance may reduce household crowding by improving access to affordable housing for low-income families. We leveraged NHANES data linked with HUD administrative rental assistance records to examine relationships between different forms of HUD rental assistance and multiple measures of crowding for households with children. We found a statistically significant reduction in the odds of crowding for those currently receiving HUD assistance compared to a control group who entered rental assistance within 2 years of their NHANES interview (95% CI, 0.39 to 0.93). The specific relationships between rental assistance and crowding and the magnitude of these associations varied by rental assistance type (public housing, multi-family, and vouchers). Fewer than 1 in 4 eligible households receive rental assistance. Our findings suggest that expanding access to this resource can reduce household crowding and its adverse impacts on health and well-being.