Rental housing subsidy programmes have been an important part of the American welfare system since the 1930s. The Benefits of Subsidized Housing Programs: An Intertemporal Approach is an empirical study of the distributive effects of the entire system of rental housing subsidies for lower-income households based on a national sample. Using the 1977 Annual Housing Survey, Professor Hammond has evaluated the benefits of all federal, state and local government rental housing subsidy programmes taken as a whole across the nation. Additionally, she has estimated the changes in consumption patterns resulting from these programmes and the relationship between household benefit and household income; household size; age, education, sex, and race of the head of the household; and the geographic location of the household.