Housing Quality And Well-Being: Evaluation Of Slum Rehabilitation Policy

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of housing quality on well-being by comparing a sample of low-income women living in two different housing conditions: slum housing and public housing. Interviews, questionnaires and observations were used to collect data on quality of housing, wellbeing aspects, and demographic factors. T-tests and multiple linear regression models were used to statistically analyze the difference in housing conditions and well-being between the two groups and to understand the effect of housing quality on well-being. Bootstrapping method was also used to examine housing quality as an underlying mechanism in the association between housing site and well-being. Household income, educational attainment and employment status were used as statistical controls. Results of this study suggest that housing quality and overall well-being were better in women living in public housing in comparison to women in slum housing. Also housing quality was an effective predictor of various aspects of well-being. Mediational analyses suggest that well-being correlates of better housing are explained by housing quality. However, given the quasi-experimental research design of this study, these pathways should be interpreted with caution. These results begin to fill in the gap in housing literature in developing countries. Moreover, these results provide a preliminary psycho-social evaluation of slum rehabilitation policies with implications for planners and policy-makers.