Demand-Driven Housing Subsidies, Household Welfare and Labor Markets: Causal Evidence from Colombia’s Mi Casa Ya

María del Pilar López-Uribe, Fabio Sánchez Torres and Jorge Caputo Leyva
Additional contact information
María del Pilar López-Uribe: Secretaría de Desarrollo Económico
Fabio Sánchez Torres: Universidad de los Andes
Jorge Caputo Leyva: Universidad de los Andes

No 2026-27, Documentos CEDE from Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE

Abstract: Colombia faces a substantial housing deficit and unequal access to basic public services, both in quantity and quality. In 2021, 31% of households were experiencing housing deficits, a condition that disproportionately affects vulnerable households and women. Mi Casa Ya (MCY) is Colombia’s flagship demand-side housing subsidy program, designed to reduce housing deficits by facilitating access to urban social housing for low-income households. This study presents a causal evaluation of the impact of MCY on household welfare, including housing conditions, access to public services, residential safety, labor market outcomes, income, poverty, and vulnerability. Using administrative records and household survey data for applicants, beneficiaries, and non-beneficiaries, the results show that MCY reduces barriers to homeownership and contributes to significant reductions in both quantitative and qualitative housing deficits. Beneficiaries also gain access to more formal housing conditions, improved public services, and safer residential environments. The program improves labor market outcomes, including employment, earnings, and formality, with particularly strong benefits for women. In addition, MCY reduces dependence on other government assistance programs, increases household expenditure, improves access to durable goods and financial products, and lowers the likelihood of poverty and vulnerability. A cost-benefit analysis confirms that the program generates substantial positive private and social returns.

Keywords: housing; housing deficit; poverty; employment; labor income; impact evaluation; gender; instrumental variables (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I38 J22 O18 R28 R31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 49
Date: 2026-06
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Published in Documentos CEDE - Universidad de los Andes

Downloads: (external link)
https://repositorio.uniandes.edu.co/bitstreams/handle/1992/78653/dcede202627.pdf
https://repositorio.uniandes.edu.co/bitstreams/handle/1992/78653/dcede202627.pdf

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:col:000089:022706

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Documentos CEDE from Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Universidad De Los Andes-Cede ().