Does Section 8 housing benefit the tenant or the landlord who was able to raise the rent because of the government subsidy?
Does the student or the college benefit from the government student loan which allow colleges to raise tuition because more money is available for student loans ?
Does the low paid worker or the business benefit more from the Earned Income Credit of up to $8k at tax time because it means there is less incentive for the low paid worker to go elsewhere ?
For the last consider the lifestyle of the minimum wage employee could be as good or better than the $12 an hour worker because the minimum wage worker with a family will be eligible for housing assistance,special winter heat programs, a free cellphone of 200 minutes and 200 texts a months,probably medical care for the whole family,food aid, and the list goes on.
“Does Section 8 housing benefit the tenant or the landlord who was able to raise the rent because of the government subsidy?”
Section 8 is a disaster; it ruins buildings, neighborhoods, etc. (which is why the government has to mandate including it in housing construction projects). The tenants are nearly impossible to evict, often nobody else wants to live near them, and the amount of rent you can charge isn’t all that high. Owners of rental properties that I know personally go to great lengths to avoid having one of these tenants set up shop in their buildings (through referrals, W-2s and such); it is hardly beneficial to the owners (unless they are already in a bad area where worthy tenants are hard to come by), and if you are in a rent-controlled municipality it is even worse. You will be capped in how much rent you charge, while your tenants will call you to change a lightbulb (no kidding).