Moving to Opportunity

MTO is a major randomized housing mobility experiment sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). MTO provided 4,600 low-income families with children living in public housing within some of the nation's most disadvantaged urban neighborhoods the chance to move to private-market housing in much less distressed communities.

Authorized by Congress in 1992, MTO made use of rental assistance vouchers, in combination with intensive housing search and counseling services, to assist low-income families to move from some of America’s most distressed urban neighborhoods to lower-poverty communities. MTO families were recruited from high-poverty public housing projects in five participating cities (Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York) between 1994 and 1998. These families were assigned by lottery to one of three research groups: a traditional Section 8 voucher group, a low-poverty voucher group, and a control group. Because of the random assignment design, the MTO study generates comparable groups of adults and children living in different types of neighborhoods, so that a comparison of outcomes across research groups can uncover the potential effects of neighborhood characteristics across a range of family and children’s outcomes.

The MTO Interim study, carried out 4 to 7 years after random assignment, found that:

· MTO improved neighborhood outcomes: Assignment to either of the MTO mobility groups led participating adults to feel safer and more satisfied with their housing and neighborhoods.

· MTO had no effect on the labor market outcomes or social program participation of adults, but improved adults’ mental health as well as several important aspects of physical health.

· MTO improved outcomes for female youth, particularly their mental health, but on balance had deleterious effects on male youth risky behavior.

· MTO had no detectable effects on the math and reading achievement of children.

The final MTO impact evaluation is currently underway and will provide an opportunity to learn more about MTO’s long-term effects over a decade after families were offered the opportunity to move, and in turn, the effects on families and children of living in varying neighborhood environments. The main research questions on which the final impact evaluation is focusing are the following:

· What are the long term effects of MTO, particularly on physical and mental health, and how do these effects evolve over time?

· What are the long-term effects of MTO on those who were young children at baseline?

- Children who grow up in low-poverty areas from infancy and early childhood can be expected to show greater effects than those who move at age 10 or 15.

· What are the mechanisms, especially for youth by gender?

- Hypotheses include: retaining social ties, reducing victimization, differences

in institutional responses, parental investment, adaptation and decision making, role models.

More information:

Overview Presentation
Overview Summary