Beyond Immediate Relief: Examining the Cumulative Relationships of Supply- and Demand-Side Housing Assistance with Mental Health

Source abstract

While housing assistance is widely linked to mental health, whether relationships are immediate, cumulative, or contingent on program design remains unclear. Using 2007–2018 Korea Welfare Panel Study data and estimating fixed-effects models, this study examines immediate and cumulative associations between housing assistance and mental health, focusing on differences between supply- and demand-side assistance. The results reveal that supply-side assistance was associated with immediate mental health gains but a nonlinear cumulative trajectory: mental health worsened after initial receipt, improved with subsequent episodes, and attenuated with longer exposure. Demand-side assistance showed marginal immediate associations and marginal cumulative improvements. Program-specific models revealed heterogeneity within each assistance type. These findings highlight that housing assistance is not a static exposure and clarify when benefits emerge or fade. Overall, mental health outcomes depend on exposure history and institutional design, implying that evaluations limited to short-term evaluations may inaccurately assess the mental health implications of housing policies.