Low-income families already face an uphill battle in the housing market, but a recent study from a pair of public policy researchers at Northeastern suggests the hill might be even steeper.
Published in Urban Affairs Review by Forrest Hangen, a public policy PhD student, and Dan O’Brien, associate professor of public policy, urban affairs and criminology and criminal justice, the study found blatant discrimination on Craigslist against housing choice voucher holders.
The housing choice voucher program, often called Section 8 because of the section of the U.S. Housing Act that authorized it, is the primary way the federal government helps low-income families afford housing on the private market. Currently, about 2.1 million households receive vouchers as part of the program, and more than 80% of those families earn less than $20,000 per year.
