Having to decide between shelter and food is a choice some families make every day. It may mean eating what’s cheap rather than what’s nutritious, or sending children off to school hungry, making it hard for them to concentrate there. Because housing is usually a family’s biggest expense, healthy eating often loses out, especially at the end of the month. Housing assistance, then, may be a way to reach these food-insecure families. A small body of evidence suggests that, relative to other low-income children, kids in public housing are better off when it comes to food security and health. Children’s HealthWatch found that children living in subsidized housing are more likely to be food secure than children on the housing assistance waiting list. They also found that food-insecure children living in subsidized housing were 52% less likely to be seriously underweight than food-insecure children on the wait list. That’s not to say that housing assistance is the ultimate solution. Almost 80% of families receiving public housing subsidies report being on food stamps, and 75% report that their children receive free school lunch.
Source: Urban Institute, 2/3/14, Housing Aid
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