The Causal Impact of Poverty Reduction on Housing Conditions of Low-Income, U.S. Children and the Role of Housing and Neighborhood Ecosystems on Young Children's Healthy Development

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1 PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT 2 The increasingly limited availability of affordable housing paired with a shortage in provision of federal rental 3 assistance among eligible families means millions of low-income, U.S. children live in unstable and/or substand- 4 ard-quality housing – conditions which have been linked to a range of adverse child health and development 5 outcomes. The lack of affordable housing in low-poverty neighborhoods further contributes to families living in 6 crowded housing conditions and/or residing in neighborhoods that expose children to stressful, unsafe environ- 7 ments. Although infants and toddlers experience the highest rates of childhood poverty and spend a substantial 8 portion of their time at home, there exists little evidence assessing the impact of adverse housing and neighbor- 9 hood conditions specifically on the health and development of this age group. Moreover, as less than 25% of 10 eligible, low-income families with young children receiving housing assistance, there is need to understand 11 whether other anti-poverty programs can help improve housing conditions for these children and their families. 12 The proposed research seeks to address these knowledge gaps and provide scientific evidence to inform 13 the design of anti-poverty programs that aim to improve early housing and neighborhood environments for low- 14 income children. By using data from Baby’s First Years (BFY) – a randomized control trial evaluating the impact 15 of a monthly, unconditional cash transfer (UCT) to low-income, U.S. mothers and their young children (NICHD 16 R01HD087384) – this research will provide a rich understanding of the housing and neighborhood ecosystems 17 low-income infants and toddlers (0-3 years) inhabit and how these environments impact their healthy develop- 18 ment. Aim 1 estimates the causal impacts of the UCT on housing affordability, composition, stability, and quality 19 using a multivariate linear regression model. Aim 2 conducts latent class analysis using the control sample to 20 identify configurations of housing and neighborhood ecosystems experienced by BFY participants and then eval- 21 uates how these configurations influence young children’s (0-3 years) physical health, use of medical care, be- 22 havioral and socioemotional development, and language acquisition. Aim 3 investigates the mediating role of 23 housing and neighborhood conditions on young children’s healthy development using the same outcome 24 measures as Aim 2. 25 This fellowship application is designed to provide the PI with training in advanced statistical methods 26 critical for conducting policy and public health research, as well as opportunities to maximize the policy relevance 27 of her work, gain further clinical experience, and build professional skills critical to success as an academic 28 scholar. Her proposed research, training plan, and highly qualified, interdisciplinary mentorship team will ensure 29 she is well-positioned to achieve her long-term goal of becoming an independent physician-scientist dedicated 30 to using rigorous, policy-driven research to improve the health and well-being of children and their families.