How does housing assistance affect employment, health and social cohesion?

Housing assistance (HA) measures involve the direct or indirect provision of financial or in-kind support to individuals and families to meet specific housing needs or objectives. They affect not only the housing market and shelter outcomes but also have an impact on a wide variety of other aspects of the social and economic life of the community. Key examples of non-shelter impacts are participation in the labour market and in education and training institutions, individual mental and physical health states and social cohesion. However, HA measures can also affect the distribution of income and wealth in society, the sense of control and security that households have as a result of their housing circumstances and standards of living over an individual's lifetime. The way in which assistance is provided also has the capacity to interact positively or negatively with additional support services for those with multiple needs. These various impacts occur through different pathways.