January 2025

S M T W T F S
    1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031 

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

August 5th, 2019

hitchhiker: image of "don't panic" towel with a rocketship and a 42 (Default)
Monday, August 5th, 2019 01:15 pm
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/8/4/20726427/raj-chetty-segregation-moving-opportunity-seattle-experiment

In Seattle, the researchers put a twist on the housing voucher system. For this experiment, a random subset of people receiving vouchers for the first time would get more than just the rental subsidy. They would also be given information on which neighborhoods promise the most opportunity for their kids, based on the research data. They’d also be assigned “navigators” whose job it was to walk them through the apartment application process, and receive additional financial assistance with down payments if necessary.

It’s a simple intervention — and, more than a year in, it looks like it yielded big results.


Apart from money and information, the sheer cost and energy of navigating the bureaucracy around housing assistance can be overwhelming; it's nice to see steps being taken to help with that.