Housing Subsidies and Homelessness: A Simple Idea
Reducing homelessness is an indisputable social good, and housing subsidies offer one way to do so. However, subsidies come in many different varieties and are intricately bound up with economic and social policies. This paper, written by one of North America’s leading urban economists, cuts through...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Calgary
2012-01-01
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| Series: | The School of Public Policy Publications |
| Online Access: | https://dev.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/sppp/article/view/42373 |
| _version_ | 1827877083636826112 |
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| author | Brendan O’Flaherty |
| author_facet | Brendan O’Flaherty |
| author_sort | Brendan O’Flaherty |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Reducing homelessness is an indisputable social good, and housing subsidies offer one way to do so. However, subsidies come in many different varieties and are intricately bound up with economic and social policies. This paper, written by one of North America’s leading urban economists, cuts through the tangle and argues that the simplest approach is the best. The ideal way to deter people from harmful acts is to reward them for abstaining. Thus, to combat homelessness, governments should offer housing allowances to people for every night they are not homeless. This optimal homelessness-reducing home allowance (OHRHA) is open to adjustment to suit individual circumstances and the effects of homelessness on different demographics. It is meant to reduce homelessness by aligning individual and societal incentives, forcing people to bear the consequences or realize the benefits that their actions impose on others. The author explores methods for financing OHRHA, examines means for tailoring it to meet the diverse needs of the homeless and discusses the policy’s effect on urban housing markets, all while comparing and contrasting the proposal to existing homelessness-reduction measures in Alberta, Canada and the US. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T17:32:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5d157ffbb9a843fa8242373b80df4b99 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2560-8312 2560-8320 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T17:32:31Z |
| publishDate | 2012-01-01 |
| publisher | University of Calgary |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The School of Public Policy Publications |
| spelling | doaj.art-5d157ffbb9a843fa8242373b80df4b992023-08-04T15:53:15ZengUniversity of CalgaryThe School of Public Policy Publications2560-83122560-83202012-01-015Housing Subsidies and Homelessness: A Simple IdeaBrendan O’Flaherty0Columbia UniversityReducing homelessness is an indisputable social good, and housing subsidies offer one way to do so. However, subsidies come in many different varieties and are intricately bound up with economic and social policies. This paper, written by one of North America’s leading urban economists, cuts through the tangle and argues that the simplest approach is the best. The ideal way to deter people from harmful acts is to reward them for abstaining. Thus, to combat homelessness, governments should offer housing allowances to people for every night they are not homeless. This optimal homelessness-reducing home allowance (OHRHA) is open to adjustment to suit individual circumstances and the effects of homelessness on different demographics. It is meant to reduce homelessness by aligning individual and societal incentives, forcing people to bear the consequences or realize the benefits that their actions impose on others. The author explores methods for financing OHRHA, examines means for tailoring it to meet the diverse needs of the homeless and discusses the policy’s effect on urban housing markets, all while comparing and contrasting the proposal to existing homelessness-reduction measures in Alberta, Canada and the US.https://dev.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/sppp/article/view/42373 |
| spellingShingle | Brendan O’Flaherty Housing Subsidies and Homelessness: A Simple Idea The School of Public Policy Publications |
| title | Housing Subsidies and Homelessness: A Simple Idea |
| title_full | Housing Subsidies and Homelessness: A Simple Idea |
| title_fullStr | Housing Subsidies and Homelessness: A Simple Idea |
| title_full_unstemmed | Housing Subsidies and Homelessness: A Simple Idea |
| title_short | Housing Subsidies and Homelessness: A Simple Idea |
| title_sort | housing subsidies and homelessness a simple idea |
| url | https://dev.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/sppp/article/view/42373 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT brendanoflaherty housingsubsidiesandhomelessnessasimpleidea |