Volume 2.2 - Discrimination - Spring 1998

Title: Proxy for Discrimination: Vouchers in the Section 8 Housing Program

Author: Stacie Young

Abstract: This article critically assesses the Section 8 program in terms of its provision that allows landlords to refuse Section 8 recipients, thereby preventing low-income minority Section recipients from escaping poverty. After examining housing market constraints, housing discrimination, and how mobility counseling efforts are hampered by discrimination against Section 8 recipients, the article suggests that many landlords legally refuse Section 8 holders as a proxy for refusing poor, African-American, female-headed households. In conclusion, to open up housing opportunities for Section 8 tenant-based subsidy holders, the Section 8 program must examine many of its provisions, including making discrimination against the Section 8 subsidy illegal.

About the Author: Stacie Young is a master's candidate at the Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies. She works with the Housing Coalition of the Southwestern Suburbs (Cook County, Illinois).

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