Moving To Opportunity?

Enlarge this image toggle caption Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Back in the 90s, the federal government ran a bold experiment, giving people vouchers to move out of high-poverty neighborhoods into low-poverty ones. They wanted to test if housing policy could be hope – whether an address change alone could improve jobs, earnings and education.

The answer to that seems obvious. But it did not at all turn out as they expected.

Years later, when new researchers went back to the data on this experiment, they stumbled on something big. Something that is changing housing policy across the country today.

Music: "Way Huge" and "Leave It Alone."

Find us: Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / Newsletter

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts and NPR One.

If you want to learn about other innovative economic experiments, subscribe to our weekly newsletter.