Curtis, Marah A. <br/><br/>
Life Shocks and Homelessness / 
Marah A. Curtis, Hope Corman, Kelly Noonan, Nancy Reichman. 
 - Cambridge, Mass.  National Bureau of Economic Research  2011. 
 - 1 online resource:  illustrations (black and white); 
 - NBER working paper series  no. w16826 .
 - Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research)  no. w16826. .
<br/><br/> February 2011. 
<br/><br/> We exploit an exogenous health shock--the birth of a child with a severe health condition--to investigate the causal effect of a life shock on homelessness. Using survey data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study that have been augmented with information from hospital medical records, we find that the health shock increases the likelihood of homelessness three years later, particularly in cities with high housing costs. Homelessness is defined using both a traditional measure and a more contemporary measure that includes residential instability and doubling up without paying rent. The findings are consistent with the economic theory of homelessness, which posits that homelessness results from a conjunction of adverse circumstances in which housing markets and individual characteristics collide. They also add to a growing body of evidence that housing markets are an important contributor to homelessness and suggest that homelessness is a problem not easily addressed by existing public support programs. 
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