And a growing number of people who are eligible for government housing assistance aren't getting it. But unlike other government benefits like Medicaid and food stamps, housing aid doesn't automatically go to those who need it. And across 31 pilot basic income programs , recipients spent an average of about 9.2% of their payments on housing and utilities. AdvertisementThe amount that the federal government spends on its housing assistance programs, mainly Housing Choice Vouchers and public housing, is determined by Congress each year. "Housing support across America is very fractured and variable," said Sean Kline, director of Stanford's Basic Income Lab.

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Persons: —, doesn't, Matt Desmond, Chris Herbert, Ulbrich, Matt Turner, hasn't, Sean Kline, Matthew Fowle, Fowle, Kline, Herbert Organizations: Service, Homelessness, Business, Urban Institute, Assistance, Columbia University's, Poverty, Princeton, Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, Economic, Congress, Harvard, The New York Times, Department of Housing, Urban Development, Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation, University of Pennsylvania, UPenn's Housing Locations: Washington ,, San Francisco, Davos, America, Philadelphia