Moving to Opportunity, or Aging in Place? The Changing Profile of Low Income and Subsidized Households and Where They Live

The profile of households receiving rental assistance has changed over time, yet much of the policy and political dialogue surrounding rental assistance has not. Understanding the changing profile of subsidized households is important to evaluating the role of rental subsidies, particularly in the context of neighborhood access. This paper analyzes how the composition of subsidized households has changed over time, and how this relates to existing measures of neighborhood opportunity. We find that since 2000, the share of subsidized households headed by seniors grew, while the share with children dropped. In particular, households using vouchers used to be young relative to the general population and to households in other housing subsidy programs but have aged rapidly. We also find that current neighborhood amenity measures do not reflect these changes, and we use a national analysis and a case study of southeastern Pennsylvania to test alternative metrics.