Reproducibility package for Housing Subsidies for Refugees: Experimental Evidence on Life Outcomes and Social Integration in Jordan

Refugees require assistance for basic needs like housing but local host communities may resent being excluded from that assistance, and there is limited quantitative evidence on this potential backlash. 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 worsened Jordanian neighbors’ social attitudes toward refugees. In all, housing subsidies had limited measurable benefits for refugee well-being while worsening social integration, highlighting the possible need for alternative forms of aid.