Housing, Health, and Happiness

Housing, Health, and Happiness

Despite the importance of housing for people's well-being, there has been little work done to assess the causal impact of housing and housing improvement programs on health and welfare. In this paper the authors help fill this gap by investiga...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Cattaneo, Matias D., Galiano, Sebastian, Gertler, Paul J., Martinez, Sebastian, Titiunik, Rocio
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2012
Subjects:	ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS AGE GROUPS AGED AGGLOMERATION ANEMIA ASCARIASIS ASTHMA BENEFITS OF INVESTMENT BLOOD SAMPLES BRAIN CASES OF DIARRHEA CEMENT CHEMOTHERAPY CHILD DEVELOPMENT CHILD HEALTH CITIES CLEANLINESS COMMUNITIES CONCRETE DEPRESSION DESCRIPTION DEWORMING DIAGNOSIS DIARRHEA DISEASE DISEASE CONTROL DRACUNCULIASIS DWELLING EARLY CHILDHOOD EARNINGS ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS ECONOMIC RESOURCES ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA ENROLLMENT EPIDEMIOLOGY EXPENDITURE FAMILIES FLOORS GUIDANCE SERVICE HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD HEALTH EFFECTS HEALTH INDICATORS HEALTH OUTCOMES HOME IMPROVEMENT HOMEOWNERSHIP HOMES HOOKWORM HOOKWORM INFECTION HOUSEHOLD INCOME HOUSEHOLDS HOUSES HOUSING HOUSING MARKET HOUSING PROGRAMS HOUSING UNITS HUMAN CAPITAL HUMAN SERVICES HYGIENE INFECTIOUS DISEASES INJURIES INTERNATIONAL BANK INTERVENTION INTERVENTIONS INTESTINAL PARASITES IRON LATIN AMERICAN LIVER LOSS OF APPETITE MALNUTRITION MENTAL MENTAL HEALTH MOBILITY MORTALITY NEIGHBORHOODS NUTRITION OVERCROWDING PARASITES PARASITIC DISEASES PARASITIC INFECTIONS PARASITIC WORMS PARASITOLOGY PARENTING POPULATION GROUPS PRESCHOOL CHILDREN PREVALENCE PRIVATIZATION PSYCHOLOGY PUBLIC HEALTH QUALITY CONTROL QUALITY OF LIFE RESPIRATORY DISEASE RESPIRATORY DISEASES ROOMS RURAL AREAS SCHISTOSOMIASIS SELFHELP HOUSING SEX SKIN DISEASES SLEEP SLEEP DISTURBANCE SLUM SLUM AREAS SLUMS SOCIAL WELFARE SYMPTOMS TRACHOMA TREATMENT URBAN AREA URBAN AREAS URBAN DWELLERS URBAN POPULATION URBAN STUDIES URBANIZATION VENTILATION VOUCHERS WALLS
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2007/08/8186857/housing-health-happiness http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7295

Description
Summary:	Despite the importance of housing for people's well-being, there has been little work done to assess the causal impact of housing and housing improvement programs on health and welfare. In this paper the authors help fill this gap by investigating the impact of a large-scale effort by the Mexican government to replace dirt floors with cement floors on child health and adult happiness. They find that replacing dirt floors with cement floors significantly reduces parasitic infestations in young children, reduces diarrhea, reduces anemia, and improves cognitive development. Finally, they also find that this program leave adults substantially better off, as measured by satisfaction with their housing and quality of life and by their significantly lower rates of depression and perceived stress.