Fenelon Andrew
Penn State University.
J Urban Aff. 2024;46(5):944-961. doi: 10.1080/07352166.2022.2103426. Epub 2022 Oct 12.
Housing policy in the United States has long been characterized by unequal investment in homeownership and low-income rental assistance, with implications for racial (and ethnic) inequality in access to stable housing. In this study, I examine socioeconomic status and neighborhood characteristics of non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic Black adults with children receiving HUD rental assistance using a nationally representative linked survey-administrative dataset. Results show that Black and White adults who receive rental assistance tend to have similar (low) incomes, yet Black adults experience significantly higher levels of neighborhood disadvantage than White adults. Furthermore, living in poverty is a substantially stronger predictor of receiving HUD rental assistance for White than Black adults. The results support the notion that rental assistance programs are a last resort for White households, many of whom may benefit from historical federal government support for homeownership. Rental assistance serves as an important safety net for Black families but fails to provide significant improvement in the neighborhood environment. The results contribute to a comprehensive understanding of racial inequality in the impacts of U.S. rental housing policy and the historical legacy of racial exclusion in U.S. homeownership programs.
长期以来,美国的住房政策一直表现为对自有住房和低收入租房援助的投资不均,这对获得稳定住房方面的种族(和族裔)不平等产生了影响。在本研究中,我使用一个具有全国代表性的关联调查-行政数据集,考察了有子女且接受美国住房和城市发展部(HUD)租房援助的非西班牙裔白人及非西班牙裔黑人成年人的社会经济地位和邻里特征。结果显示,接受租房援助的黑人和白人成年人往往收入相近(都很低),但黑人成年人所经历的邻里劣势程度明显高于白人成年人。此外,对于白人成年人而言,生活贫困是接受HUD租房援助的一个显著得多的预测因素,而对黑人成年人来说并非如此。这些结果支持了这样一种观点,即租房援助项目是白人家庭的最后手段,其中许多家庭可能受益于历史上联邦政府对自有住房的支持。租房援助对黑人家庭而言是重要的安全网,但未能显著改善邻里环境。这些结果有助于全面理解美国租房住房政策影响方面的种族不平等以及美国自有住房项目中种族排斥的历史遗留问题。