"The Home Front underscores why it is so important for housing and welfare reform to proceed in tandem, and tells us what we know about these critical linkages."
—Michael Stegman, Professor of Public Policy, University of North Carolina.

Welfare has been revamped to encourage self-sufficiency. Should housing policy be next? Sandra Newman and her co-contributors to The Home Front argue that policy makers can no longer avoid this question, pointing to the growing percentage of public housing residents who receive welfare and the fact that the nation spends more on assisted housing than welfare.

In Chapter One, Sandra Newman lays the groundwork for exploring the complex relationship between housing policy and the self-sufficiency of low-income people. In an interview, she provides a framework for the key questions raised in the book.

The Home Front brings together some of the nation's leading experts to discuss relevant research on the real and potential impact of welfare reform on housing and to review current knowledge about housing-based self-sufficiency programs.