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The sun had not been up very long, but it was already quite hot in our yard. It was the fourth day of July, generally regarded as a day of freedom. But not freedom from weeds. My wife had shamed me into joining her in working in the garden and trimming the yard. I thought to myself, “home ownership is going to kill me.”
Homeownership and Health Benefits
I know that my previous article seemed to value the carefree life of the renter, but I am only playing the devil’s advocate. I am and always have been a firm believer in home ownership. I am discovering many studies citing the value of it in health- mental and physical health, parenting health and financial health.
I intend to be reviewing some of those and dissecting some of them too, in the near future under the “Health” category, so you might stay around for those. Please visit our Subscription Page.
Social Benefits of Homeownership and Stable Housing
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
Research Division
April 2012Homeownership and Health Benefits
Homeowners are happier and healthier than non-owners. But again, it would be incorrect to simply look at the correlation between homeownership and health outcomes to draw conclusions since homeownership is also correlated with such factors as income and education levels. And surely, higher income and education are associated with better health. Nonetheless, there are a 22 Woldoff, R. A. 2002. The effects of local stressors on neighborhood attachment. Social Forces, 81, 87–116. 23 Van Der Gaag, M., & Snijders, T. A. B. 2005. The resource generator: Social capital quantification with concrete items. Social Networks, 27, 1–29. 24 Coffe, H. 2009. Social capital and community heterogeneity. Social Indicators Research, 91, 155–170. 25 Coffe, H.,& Geys, B. 2006. Community heterogeneity: A burden for the creation of social capital? Social Science Quarterly, 87, 1053–1072.
few academic studies that provide evidence of the positive impact of homeownership on health even after controlling for factors like income and education.
Rohe and Stegman found that low-income people who recently became homeowners reported higher life satisfaction, higher self-esteem, and higher perceived control over their lives.26 But the authors cautioned on the interpretation of the causation since residential stability was not controlled for. Similarly, Rossi and Weber concluded that homeowners report higher self-esteem and happiness than renters.27 For example, homeowners are more likely to believe that they can do things as well as anyone else, and they report higher self ratings on their physical health even after controlling for age and socioeconomic factors. In addition to being more satisfied with their own personal situation than renters, homeowners also enjoy better physical and psychological health.28Another study showed that renters who become homeowners not only experience a significant increase in housing satisfaction, but also obtain a higher satisfaction even in the same home in which they resided as renters.29
More recently, research examining the association of self-rated health with socioeconomic position showed that social mobility variables, such as the family financial situation and housing tenure during childhood and adulthood, impacted one’s self-rated health. In particular, the socioeconomic disadvantage indicated by not being able to save any money or not owning or purchasing a home, is negatively associated with excellent or very good self-rated health. 30 A similar examination, but looking at self-reported financial well-being, also showed financial well-being depends on home ownership, the number of children, health insurance, age, and income.31
It would be far too easy to just make the blanket statement that non-homeowners are losers, but I think they were fairly impressed with the overall effects of the stability of ownership. According to this study, home ownership might even give Mick Jagger some satisfaction.
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