Nathan Hendren

It didn't strike me as the most, what would have been the most effective going in.

It didn't strike me as the most, what would have been the most effective going in.

More than half of the families end up using the voucher in a neighborhood that has high upward mobility.

More than half of the families end up using the voucher in a neighborhood that has high upward mobility.

We had been working with data at the IRS.

We had been working with data at the IRS.

Before this, I was working mainly with survey data sets, where if you had 10,000 people in your data set, you were quite excited. In this data, you're dealing with millions.

Before this, I was working mainly with survey data sets, where if you had 10,000 people in your data set, you were quite excited. In this data, you're dealing with millions.

And what that allows you to do is really kind of put a sharp knife into your analysis and really uncover patterns.

And what that allows you to do is really kind of put a sharp knife into your analysis and really uncover patterns.

Actually, I remember the day vividly.

Actually, I remember the day vividly.

So Raj and I were both working away at the Internal Revenue Service.

So Raj and I were both working away at the Internal Revenue Service.

The longer a child spent in a neighborhood with higher rates of upper mobility, the higher their outcomes were in adulthood.

The longer a child spent in a neighborhood with higher rates of upper mobility, the higher their outcomes were in adulthood.

You'd actually see higher outcomes on average for the four-year-old relative to the eight-year-old.

You'd actually see higher outcomes on average for the four-year-old relative to the eight-year-old.

At that point, we were of the mindset of, well, geez, we should probably get the MTO data.

At that point, we were of the mindset of, well, geez, we should probably get the MTO data.

Back in 2008, you wouldn't have seen it. There just weren't enough young children into the labor market where you'd really be able to say, ah, it looks like there's an effect here. But wait five years, and all of a sudden, you can really start to see these patterns emerge.

Back in 2008, you wouldn't have seen it. There just weren't enough young children into the labor market where you'd really be able to say, ah, it looks like there's an effect here. But wait five years, and all of a sudden, you can really start to see these patterns emerge.

Yeah. It's nice to get lucky sometimes.

Yeah. It's nice to get lucky sometimes.

We're four percentage points more likely to go to college.

We're four percentage points more likely to go to college.

You could kind of feel that we had something that was going to change the way people thought about neighborhoods and change the way people thought about inequality of opportunity in the United States.

You could kind of feel that we had something that was going to change the way people thought about neighborhoods and change the way people thought about inequality of opportunity in the United States.

We got a lot of emails from people who were eager to think about what we should be doing to use housing policy as a way to think about improving upward mobility for children who are most disadvantaged.

We got a lot of emails from people who were eager to think about what we should be doing to use housing policy as a way to think about improving upward mobility for children who are most disadvantaged.

No, we did not.

No, we did not.

It didn't strike me as the most, what would have been the most effective going in.

More than half of the families end up using the voucher in a neighborhood that has high upward mobility.

We had been working with data at the IRS.

Before this, I was working mainly with survey data sets, where if you had 10,000 people in your data set, you were quite excited. In this data, you're dealing with millions.

And what that allows you to do is really kind of put a sharp knife into your analysis and really uncover patterns.

Actually, I remember the day vividly.

So Raj and I were both working away at the Internal Revenue Service.

The longer a child spent in a neighborhood with higher rates of upper mobility, the higher their outcomes were in adulthood.

You'd actually see higher outcomes on average for the four-year-old relative to the eight-year-old.

At that point, we were of the mindset of, well, geez, we should probably get the MTO data.

Back in 2008, you wouldn't have seen it. There just weren't enough young children into the labor market where you'd really be able to say, ah, it looks like there's an effect here. But wait five years, and all of a sudden, you can really start to see these patterns emerge.

Yeah. It's nice to get lucky sometimes.

We're four percentage points more likely to go to college.

You could kind of feel that we had something that was going to change the way people thought about neighborhoods and change the way people thought about inequality of opportunity in the United States.

We got a lot of emails from people who were eager to think about what we should be doing to use housing policy as a way to think about improving upward mobility for children who are most disadvantaged.

No, we did not.