The Stepped and Tiered Rent Demonstration (STRD) is a randomized controlled trial in which 10 public housing authorities (PHAs) are implementing new rent policies: 5 PHAs are implementing a “stepped rent” and 5 PHAs are implementing a “tiered rent.” The new rent policies are intended to reduce administrative burden and provide incentives for assisted households to increase their income, while being roughly budget-neutral for PHAs. PD&R’s long-term evaluation will determine whether households subject to the new rent rules experience different outcomes than those in the control group (standard rent rules). Key household-level outcomes will include earnings and employment, housing subsidy levels, material hardship, and other measures of family well-being. PD&R’s evaluation will also include an implementation evaluation and cost study components to understand implications for PHAs. This report is the first interim report associated with STRD; the report presents the stepped and tiered rent policies, and describes the process of designing and implementing the policies and associated research activities. At the time of publication, study enrollment is ongoing.

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