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This article analyzes whether inner city public housing exacerbates the employment problems of its tenants. Results from two evaluations of public housing demonstrations are used to test the potential impact of location, address discrimination, eligibility criteria, and rent schedules on tenant work behavior. To supplement this analysis, the effects of public housing on tenant employment, including self‐employment, are estimated using a unique cross‐sectional data set known as the Urban Poverty and Family Life Survey. The results do not support the claim that public housing, independent of tenant characteristics, contributes to employment patterns. While it is true that most public housing residents do not work, their counterparts in the private real estate market are no more likely to be employed or to have ever worked. Overall, these results indicate that the provision of public housing does not inhibit work behavior.