This study investigated the effects of housing assistance received by children between the ages of 10 and 16 at some point during the period 1968-1982 on four outcomes experienced in adulthood: (1) welfare receipt between ages 20-27; (2) earnings above poverty between ages 25-27; (3) total earnings between 25-27; and (4) educational attainment at age 27.

The impacts of public housing and privately owned assisted housing built or rehabilitated using federal government subsidies were studied using information from the Panel Study of Assisted Housing Database. The most significant finding is that public housing does not have detrimental effects on the long-term self-sufficiency outcomes of youth. The worse outcomes experienced by children who spend some time in public housing when compared to those who did not have assisted housing experience were a result of differences in family background, not housing assistance. There was some evidence that public housing may have positive effects on a child's long-term self-sufficiency, and there was also some evidence that public housing has a stronger positive effect on the most disadvantaged children.

Housing assistance appears to have no effect on high school graduation, but it is associated with a 12 percentage point increase in the probability of a youth having some postsecondary education. Six appendixes discuss methodologies and some aspects of public housing impact.