Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/314519 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 17622
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Refugees require assistance for basic needs like housing but local host communities may feel excluded from that assistance, potentially affecting community relations. This study experimentally evaluates the effect of a housing assistance program for Syrian refugees in Jordan on both the recipients and their neighbors. The program offered full rental subsidies and landlord incentives for housing improvements, but saw only moderate uptake, in part due to landlord reluctance. The program improved short-run housing quality and lowered housing expenditures, but did not yield sustained economic benefits, partly due to redistribution of aid. The program unexpectedly led to a deterioration in child socio-emotional well-being, and also strained relations between Jordanian neighbors and refugees. In all, housing subsidies had limited measurable benefits for refugee well-being while worsening social cohesion, highlighting the possible need for alternative forms of aid.
Subjects: 
refugees
housing
forced migration
social integration
JEL: 
D22
J61
O17
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
643.14 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.