The Anti-Poverty Impacts of Expanding Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers
The Section 8 voucher program is the nation’s largest form of rental assistance and a powerful anti-poverty tool for those who receive it, but because of funding restrictions only about a quarter of households that are eligible receive them. During the 2020 Presidential campaign, President Biden proposed transforming Section 8 vouchers into an entitlement program so that all who are eligible for a voucher could receive one. This fact sheet details the potential anti-poverty impacts of such an expansion of the program, with national and state-level results. We also break down our national results by race and ethnicity, age, disability status, and metro versus non-metro areas for individuals living in poverty and deep poverty.
Note: Results were updated in August 2023 to account for an error in the housing subsidy calculation. In the original calculation, if an SPM poverty unit’s prorated subsidy was larger than the shelter and utilities portion of their SPM threshold, we capped it at this portion of the threshold. In the updated version, if the prorated subsidy was larger than the shelter and utilities portion of their SPM threshold, we capped it at this portion of the threshold minus the total tenant payment. We also do not include cost estimates in the updated version of the brief.
Suggested Citation:
Center on Poverty and Social Policy, Columbia University. 2021. "The Anti-Poverty Impact of Expanding Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers." Poverty and Social Policy Fact Sheet. www.povertycenter.columbia.edu/publication/2021/section-8-housing-expansion-poverty-impact