ABSTRACT
This chapter demand-side housing subsidies, specifically rental vouchers that allow low-income households to lease rental housing in the private marketplace. The chapter traces the evolution of demand-side programs, particularly the Housing Choice Voucher program, since their inception in 1974 and assesses the strengths and weaknesses of this approach. It looks at trends over time in the ability of different types of households to secure housing with vouchers and how these success rates vary in different housing markets. Finally, the chapter discusses the ability of rental vouchers to facilitate racial and economic integration. In the latter discussion, the chapter examines several initiatives that use vouchers to help families access neighborhoods with low levels of poverty and in some cases level levels of racial segregations. These programs include Small Area Fair Market Rents, Moving to Opportunity, Gautreaux, and the Baltimore Housing Mobility Program.
