Chicago Section 8 Housing Vouchers

The Chicago Housing Authority Corporation Inc. offered families a Section 8 housing voucher, which they could use to subsidize rent for housing purchased in the private market. The voucher value was equal to the difference between either the fair market rent amount or the selected unit's rent (whichever was lower) and 30 percent of the family's adjusted income. Adjusted income included earnings and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits but excluded Food Stamp (now the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and Medicaid benefits, income from the earned income tax credit, earnings of dependent children younger than 18, and payments received for caring for foster children. Families could use their housing vouchers even if their income exceeded the eligibility limit (50 percent of the local median income) as long as the fair market rent and the unit’s rent were more than 30 percent of their income. Because families were required to pay 30 percent of their income toward rent, the subsidy amount decreased as income increased and fully phased out when annual income reached about $43,000 (in 2007 dollars). Families who applied for a voucher were randomly assigned positions on a waiting list. Families were eligible to receive the voucher if their household’s annual income was below 50 percent of the local median income and they were age 65 or younger, did not have a self-reported disability, and were not living in public housing at the time of application. The intervention was implemented in Chicago, IL.