Housing benefits in 22 countries

Housing benefit is an important component of the tax/benefit package. This article compares the contribution that housing benefit makes to the structure and value of the package paid to families with children in 22 countries in July 2001. It describes the demand-side housing subsidies that exist. It then examines how the value of housing benefit varies by family type and earnings level, using the model family method. Compared with other countries families in the UK receive rather small reductions in their rent, and because child tax credits are taken into account in assessing housing benefit, it is restricted to families with the lowest earnings and tends to be smaller for larger families. Some suggestions are made for reforming housing benefit

Business · Earnings · Economics · Labour economics · Market economy · Public economics · Subsidy · Value (mathematics · demographic modeling and climate adaptation · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Finance