Length of Stay in Assisted Housing

Kirk McClure
University of Kansas

This research addresses the length of time that households remain in the various assisted housing programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The research finds that the typical household in assisted housing now stays for about 6 years, and this figure is increasing for all groups of assisted households. The elderly stay for about 9 years, while nonelderly families with children stay for about 4 years. Racial and ethnic minorities seem to stay for longer in the Housing Choice Voucher program, but the influence of race and ethnicity is less within the public housing and the Section 8 projectbased housing programs. Market conditions influence length of stay in assisted housing in a manner suggesting substitution effects. Where the rents on housing in the private marketplace are comparatively high or the availability of rental housing is comparatively low, households in assisted housing tend to stay longer.