{"title":"The impact of minimum income on homelessness: Evidence from France","authors":"Gedeão Locks , Josselin Thuilliez","doi":"10.1016/j.jue.2023.103547","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In France, childless adults younger than 25 face hard-to-meet eligibility conditions to enroll in the minimum income program. The restrictive requirements generate a “jump” in the number of recipients at ages around 25. We use a Regression Discontinuity (RD) design to assess the impact of the French minimum income program (RSA) on users of accommodation and meal distribution services. We find that the RSA benefit reduces the homelessness rate by 20% among young adults aged 22 to 27. This result is driven by new RSA recipients who have started paying partial rent to third parties, and the probability of becoming a regular tenant increases after age 26. We simulate the effects of lowering the program’s minimum age eligibility on the probability of being homeless. Our findings suggest that in programs directed at homeless individuals, around 60% of expenditures are offset by savings in social assistance costs to the homeless.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48340,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Urban Economics","volume":"135 ","pages":"Article 103547"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7000,"publicationDate":"2023-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Urban Economics","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094119023000165","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ECONOMICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
In France, childless adults younger than 25 face hard-to-meet eligibility conditions to enroll in the minimum income program. The restrictive requirements generate a “jump” in the number of recipients at ages around 25. We use a Regression Discontinuity (RD) design to assess the impact of the French minimum income program (RSA) on users of accommodation and meal distribution services. We find that the RSA benefit reduces the homelessness rate by 20% among young adults aged 22 to 27. This result is driven by new RSA recipients who have started paying partial rent to third parties, and the probability of becoming a regular tenant increases after age 26. We simulate the effects of lowering the program’s minimum age eligibility on the probability of being homeless. Our findings suggest that in programs directed at homeless individuals, around 60% of expenditures are offset by savings in social assistance costs to the homeless.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Urban Economics provides a focal point for the publication of research papers in the rapidly expanding field of urban economics. It publishes papers of great scholarly merit on a wide range of topics and employing a wide range of approaches to urban economics. The Journal welcomes papers that are theoretical or empirical, positive or normative. Although the Journal is not intended to be multidisciplinary, papers by noneconomists are welcome if they are of interest to economists. Brief Notes are also published if they lie within the purview of the Journal and if they contain new information, comment on published work, or new theoretical suggestions.