Self-Sufficiency

The Family Self-Sufficiency Program, a partnership between the federal government and local public housing authorities, promotes local strategies to help poor families achieve economic independence and self-sufficiency. This report (1) examines how housing and social services policies affect beneficiaries when they land a job and increase their income and (2) analyzes the extent to which the law creates disincentives to upward income mobility. GAO concludes that training and supported work programs have successfully increased the earning of the economically disadvantaged who participate in them, but on average the earnings increases are not enough for a family to break free from all housing and public assistance programs.

GAO found that: (1) the amount of income required to become economically independent varies greatly across programs and states; (2) only a small proportion of families with incomes below the poverty line remain poor or receive public assistance for long periods of time; (3) the rate of recidivism shows that even when families earn enough to become economically independent, their income may not be stable enough for them to become truly self-sufficient; (4) long-term beneficiaries of housing programs tend to be families headed by women; (5) training and employment programs are moderately effective in increasing the earnings of economically disadvantaged persons; and (6) as Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) benefit levels increase, there is a small decrease in the average hours of work by AFDC recipients.