Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Recent research has shown that, although evictions are preceded by severe build-up of financial strain, they have small causal effects on outcomes associated with poverty for adults. However, these findings do not speak to an important type of spillover from eviction: its impact on the well-being of children of evicted households. In this paper, we consider whether eviction has an effect on educational achievement, considering outcomes such as school mobility, absenteeism, misconduct, and academic achievement. Evaluating this link provides insight into the importance of housing conditions in driving urban poverty and reducing the economic productivity of the next generation. We have assembled a novel, comprehensive data set on the near-universe of residential evictions and public school records in a large urban school district, and will present descriptive as well as quasi-experimental evidence.