Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 May;97(5):832-7.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2005.082677. Epub 2007 Jan 31.

Housing instability among current and former welfare recipients

Robin Phinney  1 , Sheldon Danziger, Harold A Pollack, Kristin Seefeldt
Affiliations

Housing instability among current and former welfare recipients

Robin Phinney et al. Am J Public Health. 2007 May.

Abstract

Objectives: We examined correlates of eviction and homelessness among current and former welfare recipients from 1997 to 2003 in an urban Michigan community.

Methods: Longitudinal cohort data were drawn from the Women's Employment Study, a representative panel study of mothers who were receiving cash welfare in February 1997. We used logistic regression analysis to identify risk factors for both eviction and homelessness over the survey period.

Results: Twenty percent (95% confidence interval [CI]=16%, 23%) of respondents were evicted and 12% (95% CI=10%, 15%) experienced homelessness at least once between fall 1997 and fall 2003. Multivariate analyses indicated 2 consistent risk factors: having less than a high school education and having used illicit drugs other than marijuana. Mental and physical health problems were significantly associated with homelessness but not evictions. A multivariate screening algorithm achieved 75% sensitivity and 67% specificity in identifying individuals at risk for homelessness. A corresponding algorithm for eviction achieved 75% sensitivity and 50% specificity.

Conclusions: The high prevalence of housing instability among our respondents suggests the need to better target housing assistance and other social services to current and former welfare recipients with identifiable personal problems.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Administration for Children and Families, US Dept of Health and Human Services. Fact sheets: welfare. Available at: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/news/facts/tanf.html. Accessed August 8, 2005.
    1. Blank RM, Haskins R, eds. The New World of Welfare. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution; 2001.
    1. Acs G, Loprest P. Leaving Welfare: Employment and Well-Being of Families That Left Welfare in the Post-Entitlement Era. Kalamazoo, Mich: WE Upjohn Institute of Employment Research; 2004.
    1. Danziger SH, Heflin CM, Corcoran ME, Oltmans E, Wang H-C. Does it pay to move from welfare to work? J Policy Anal Manage. 2002;21:671–692.
    1. Meyer B, Sullivan J. The effects of welfare and tax reform: the material well-being of single mothers in the 1980s and 1990s. J Public Economics. 2004;88: 1387–1420.

Publication types