7/13 Opportunity Research - On Homelessness (Poor Infant Health, Entrepreneurship, and Medicaid Expansion)
By Andrew
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From Applied Economics - this study tested two new hypotheses about the causes of homelessness, finding that the, “homelessness rate is found to be a decreasing function of both the overall degree of entrepreneurial activity in a given state and the overall degree of labor market freedom in that state.”
Interesting policy implications if replicable. Hard to square business friendly regulatory regimes in the southern states and the incredibly high poverty rates across that region. Note: this is behind a paywall.
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From Washington State University - a working paper argues that, “that the 2014 Medicaid expansion has led to an increase in homeless individuals per capita by 10.85% in expansion states in comparison to non-expansion states.”
Good news/bad news. Good news: Medicaid could be a great tool to fight homelessness. Bad news: the migration of homeless individuals to expansion states put an extreme strain on service infrastructure (e.g., substance abuse and mental health treatment).
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From NBER - a working paper found that, “an exogenous health shock—the birth of a child with a severe health condition that is considered by the medical community to be random in the population—substantially increases the likelihood that the family experiences homelessness, particularly in cities with high fair market rents.”
Needs to be validated, but major implications for how we think about public assistance for families with sick children.