Author: Butler, Stuart and Cabello, Marcela

Publication Year: 2018

Media Type: Report

Summary:

The report first explores the way in which housing can affect the lives and success of individuals, and how the effect varies for different segments of the population.

Abstract:

Housing is increasingly understood to be an important determinant of success in life, affecting health, access to education, and the opportunity for upward mobility. The condition and location of a family’s home can affect such things as respiratory health and "toxic stress" among children, which can affect individuals throughout their lives. Indeed, the availability or otherwise of good social services, positive social networks, and job opportunities can determine whether a family achieves the American Dream.

Recognition of the importance of housing as a “hub” for well-being has caused analysts, policymakers, and community activists to explore the potential for housing-based initiatives to foster good health and economic mobility. To assist in this effort, we assembled an advisory group of housing analysts and practitioners from across the country to investigate the role of housing as a hub. The meetings and conversations with this group helped us to identify the potential of housing as a hub, the policy and other challenges limiting that potential, and to develop a set of recommendations to deal with these challenges and achieve the full potential of housing-based strategies to enhance the lives of Americans. The appendix lists the advisory group members. The authors of the report, not the advisory group members, are entirely responsible for the recommendations and discussion in this report.

The report first explores the way in which housing can affect the lives and success of individuals, and how the effect varies for different segments of the population.

The report then investigates the obstacles to housing functioning as a hub, from the difficulties of developing good data on the impact of housing-based strategies to shortcomings in the business models available for these strategies. The inadequate supply of affordable housing is of course a constant limitation on the potential for housing to function as a hub.

Finally, we lay out a set of recommendations designed to strengthen the role of housing as a social determinant for health and success. These recommendations, summarized below, address ways in which housing can be a crucial part of inter-sector partnerships, such as with the health system and social services. They also identify steps that can be carried out at all levels of the federal system, and by nongovernmental institutions. [Executive Summary, p.1]

Arts & Intersections: Housing

Categories: Housing, Community Development