The Impact of Homeownership on Child Outcomes

Donald Haurin, Toby Parcel, R. Jean Haurin

Does homeownership affect the outcomes of resident children? Using a national data set, we observed that children of homeowners have better home environments, high cognitive test scores, and fewer behavior problems than do children of renters. We find that these results hold even after controlling for a large number of economic, social, and demographic variables. Owning a home compared with renting leads to 13 to 23 percent higher quality home environment, ceteris paribus. The independent impact of homeownership combined with its positive impact on the home environment results in the children of owners achieving math scores up to nine percent higher, reading scores up to seven percent higher, and reductions in children’s behavior problems of up to three percent. These findings suggest homeowners support programs should be targeted at households with young children…