Reconsidering poverty dynamics by analyzing housing spells

This note reconsiders Bane and Ellwood's (1986) research on poverty spells. Instead of focusing on cash benefits as a form of public assistance, this note uses time periods on housing assistance as an alternative way to understand poverty dynamics. Housing expenses are the largest costs for families throughout the United States. Using data from the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics from 1987 to 2011, this note undertakes an alternative methodological technique for understanding the dynamics of poverty spells: calculating the probabilities of exiting public housing through analyzing spell durations. The results suggest that most individuals who enter public housing tend to have spells of less than 5 years. Moreover, only 12% of the original sample live in public housing for more than 10 years. Given the precarity of public assistance for low-income populations, scholars must consider alternative ways to understand how long and to what extent people live in poverty.