Concrete measures: the rise of public housing and changes in young single motherhood in the U.S

Katharine L. Shester (), Samuel K. Allen () and Christopher Handy ()
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Katharine L. Shester: Washington and Lee University
Samuel K. Allen: Virginia Military Institute

Journal of Population Economics, 2019, vol. 32, issue 2, No 2, 369-418

Abstract: Abstract Between 1950 and 1970, the number of public housing units in the United States grew nearly sixfold, and the percentage of births to unmarried women almost tripled. We provide the first estimates of the effect of public housing on single motherhood, using individual-level data to assess whether young women living near higher concentrations of public housing were more likely to have children out of wedlock. We find a strong and positive relationship between public housing and single motherhood for black high school dropouts. This link is larger when we use lagged measures of public housing, which suggests that exposure during childhood may be driving the result.

Keywords: Public housing; Single motherhood; Fertility; Marriage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I38 J13 N32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1007/s00148-018-0704-1

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