With the number of households struggling to pay rent near historic highs, and federal rent aid reaching only 1 in 4 eligible households, the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) 2018 budget should provide federal rent aid to at least the same number of households next year as it’s providing this year. The Senate and House 2018 HUD funding bills, however, would fall short, our updated analysis of Housing Choice Voucher program costs shows — the Senate bill would leave vouchers for an estimated 40,000 households without renewal funds next year, while the House bill would leave an estimated 120,000 without the funds.
Housing vouchers help 2.2 million households — including seniors, peoples with disabilities, and families with children in nearly every community — afford a decent home of their choice, lift families out of poverty, and reduce homelessness and housing insecurity. Vouchers can also improve children’s chances of becoming successful, productive adults: one rigorous study shows that children in families that use vouchers to move to safe, lower-poverty communities are likelier to attend college and earn more as young adults, and are less likely to become single parents, than their peers in families that don’t receive vouchers.