A Systematic Review of Government Cash Assistance for People Who Are Unhoused

Background

The number of people experiencing homelessness in the United States increased each year since 2016 (National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2022). According to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Point-in-Time Count, more than 580,000 people were unhoused on a single January night in 2022—an increase from the last available data recorded in 2020 (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2023). Although many factors can increase the risk of experiencing homelessness, this review focuses on homelessness as a structural issue rooted in income inequality and rising housing costs (Byrne et al., 2021; Lee et al., 2021). This systematic review will explore the impact of existing governmental cash assistance programs on housing outcomes for adults who are unhoused in the United States.

Methods

Using PRISMA guidelines, we conducted a systematic review of studies exploring government cash assistance for adults experiencing homelessness in the United States. Eligible articles included peer-reviewed studies published in English that took place in the United States. Additionally, articles were eligible if the target population in the study was adults experiencing homelessness and if the intervention was receiving government cash assistance. Because housing outcomes are complicated constructs to measure, no restrictions were placed on study methodology. To identify relevant articles, we systematically searched seven social work and economic databases. Two reviewers then reviewed the full text for eligibility, yielding 15 studies for data extraction. Finally, we used a matrix method to synthesize data chronologically and across variables (Garrard, 2014; Harrop et al., 2020).

Results

Seven of the 15 studies (47%) reported housing outcomes. These studies suggested that government cash assistance increased housing stability (Anderson et al., 2002; Glendening et al., 2018; Parolin et al., 2021), was a protective factor against homelessness (Bassuk et al., 1997), and promoted housing autonomy (Anderson et al., 2002). These findings additionally spanned the type of government cash assistance. Glendening et al. (2018) found that receiving SSI/SSDI predicted fewer returns to emergency shelters, and Parolin et al. (2021) found that greater access to TANF reduced levels of family homelessness. Four studies specifically explored the impacts of losing cash assistance following changes to cash welfare in the 1990s. These studies found that losing cash assistance increased episodes of homelessness (Halter, 1996; Norris et al., 2003) and specifically public school child homelessness (Shaefer et al., 2020).

Conclusions

These studies suggest that government direct cash assistance can improve outcomes for people who are unhoused; however, existing research indicates that barriers to government cash assistance limit access for people who are unhoused. While government cash assistance is not the same thing as guaranteed income, these findings may portend important outcomes for guaranteed income programs. Through the lens of the system construction of poverty, direct cash is one way to tackle homelessness, because it addresses income inequality as a key piece of the structural issue that is leading to homelessness. Guaranteed income has the potential to get much-needed cash resources to individuals without the bureaucracy and eligibility restrictions of current government cash programs.