Does rental assistance improve mental health? Insights from a longitudinal cohort study

Whitney Denary; Andrew Fenelon; Penelope Schlesinger; Jonathan Purtle; Kim M. Blankenship; Danya E. Keene

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114100

Does rental assistance improve mental health? Insights from a longitudinal cohort study

Whitney Denary
, Andrew Fenelon
, Penelope Schlesinger
, Jonathan Purtle
, Kim M. Blankenship
, Danya E. Keene

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

53 Scopus citations

Abstract

Almost half of renters in the United States are rent-burdened, meaning that they pay more than 30% of their income toward housing costs. Rental assistance through programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, alleviates these financial strains for around 5 million households. However, due to budgetary constraints, fewer than one in four eligible households actually receive this assistance and waitlists average two years nationally. Using longitudinal data from a cohort of 400 low-income adults living in New Haven, CT, this paper investigates how access to rental assistance affects mental health through two analytical methods that address selection into rental assistance. First, we performed a cross-sectional analysis to identify how psychological distress differs among those receiving and those on a waitlist for rental assistance. Second, we used a within-person fixed-effects analysis to compare changes in individuals following entry into rental assistance. We find that those receiving rental assistance report significantly less psychological distress than those on waiting lists and that transitions into rental assistance are associated with statistically non-significant decreases in psychological distress. Our findings suggest that expanding rental assistance may be one potential step toward improving the mental health of low-income individuals in the United States.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	114100
Journal	Social Science and Medicine
Volume	282
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114100
State	Published - Aug 2021
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding for this study was provided by the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ( RO1MH110192 Kim M. Blankenship, Ph.D., Principal Investigator). Research reported in this publication was also supported by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases ( R01DK124500 Danya E. Keene, Ph.D., Principal Investigator). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Funding Information:
Funding for this study was provided by the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (RO1MH110192 Kim M. Blankenship, Ph.D. Principal Investigator). Research reported in this publication was also supported by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK124500 Danya E. Keene, Ph.D. Principal Investigator). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

Keywords

Housing affordability
Housing policy
Mental health
Psychological distress
Rental assistance

Publisher link

10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114100

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title = "Does rental assistance improve mental health? Insights from a longitudinal cohort study",

abstract = "Almost half of renters in the United States are rent-burdened, meaning that they pay more than 30\% of their income toward housing costs. Rental assistance through programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, alleviates these financial strains for around 5 million households. However, due to budgetary constraints, fewer than one in four eligible households actually receive this assistance and waitlists average two years nationally. Using longitudinal data from a cohort of 400 low-income adults living in New Haven, CT, this paper investigates how access to rental assistance affects mental health through two analytical methods that address selection into rental assistance. First, we performed a cross-sectional analysis to identify how psychological distress differs among those receiving and those on a waitlist for rental assistance. Second, we used a within-person fixed-effects analysis to compare changes in individuals following entry into rental assistance. We find that those receiving rental assistance report significantly less psychological distress than those on waiting lists and that transitions into rental assistance are associated with statistically non-significant decreases in psychological distress. Our findings suggest that expanding rental assistance may be one potential step toward improving the mental health of low-income individuals in the United States.",

keywords = "Housing affordability, Housing policy, Mental health, Psychological distress, Rental assistance",

author = "Whitney Denary and Andrew Fenelon and Penelope Schlesinger and Jonathan Purtle and Blankenship, \{Kim M.\} and Keene, \{Danya E.\}",

note = "Funding Information: Funding for this study was provided by the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ( RO1MH110192 Kim M. Blankenship, Ph.D., Principal Investigator). Research reported in this publication was also supported by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases ( R01DK124500 Danya E. Keene, Ph.D., Principal Investigator). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Funding Information: Funding for this study was provided by the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (RO1MH110192 Kim M. Blankenship, Ph.D. Principal Investigator). Research reported in this publication was also supported by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK124500 Danya E. Keene, Ph.D. Principal Investigator). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Elsevier Ltd",

year = "2021",

month = aug,

doi = "10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114100",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "282",

journal = "Social Science and Medicine",

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AU - Fenelon, Andrew

AU - Schlesinger, Penelope

AU - Purtle, Jonathan

AU - Blankenship, Kim M.

AU - Keene, Danya E.

N1 - Funding Information: Funding for this study was provided by the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ( RO1MH110192 Kim M. Blankenship, Ph.D., Principal Investigator). Research reported in this publication was also supported by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases ( R01DK124500 Danya E. Keene, Ph.D., Principal Investigator). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Funding Information: Funding for this study was provided by the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (RO1MH110192 Kim M. Blankenship, Ph.D. Principal Investigator). Research reported in this publication was also supported by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK124500 Danya E. Keene, Ph.D. Principal Investigator). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier Ltd

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N2 - Almost half of renters in the United States are rent-burdened, meaning that they pay more than 30% of their income toward housing costs. Rental assistance through programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, alleviates these financial strains for around 5 million households. However, due to budgetary constraints, fewer than one in four eligible households actually receive this assistance and waitlists average two years nationally. Using longitudinal data from a cohort of 400 low-income adults living in New Haven, CT, this paper investigates how access to rental assistance affects mental health through two analytical methods that address selection into rental assistance. First, we performed a cross-sectional analysis to identify how psychological distress differs among those receiving and those on a waitlist for rental assistance. Second, we used a within-person fixed-effects analysis to compare changes in individuals following entry into rental assistance. We find that those receiving rental assistance report significantly less psychological distress than those on waiting lists and that transitions into rental assistance are associated with statistically non-significant decreases in psychological distress. Our findings suggest that expanding rental assistance may be one potential step toward improving the mental health of low-income individuals in the United States.

AB - Almost half of renters in the United States are rent-burdened, meaning that they pay more than 30% of their income toward housing costs. Rental assistance through programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, alleviates these financial strains for around 5 million households. However, due to budgetary constraints, fewer than one in four eligible households actually receive this assistance and waitlists average two years nationally. Using longitudinal data from a cohort of 400 low-income adults living in New Haven, CT, this paper investigates how access to rental assistance affects mental health through two analytical methods that address selection into rental assistance. First, we performed a cross-sectional analysis to identify how psychological distress differs among those receiving and those on a waitlist for rental assistance. Second, we used a within-person fixed-effects analysis to compare changes in individuals following entry into rental assistance. We find that those receiving rental assistance report significantly less psychological distress than those on waiting lists and that transitions into rental assistance are associated with statistically non-significant decreases in psychological distress. Our findings suggest that expanding rental assistance may be one potential step toward improving the mental health of low-income individuals in the United States.

KW - Housing affordability

KW - Housing policy

KW - Mental health

KW - Psychological distress

KW - Rental assistance

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DO - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114100

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AN - SCOPUS:85107982880

SN - 0277-9536

VL - 282

JO - Social Science and Medicine

JF - Social Science and Medicine

M1 - 114100

ER -

Does rental assistance improve mental health? Insights from a longitudinal cohort study

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

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