We found that homeownership improves physical and psychological health. We explored potential mechanisms and discovered the health effects of homeownership. Empirical Strategy · Results · Mechanisms · Discussion. We examine the effect of homeownership on health with data from macro- and micro-level panels, using local authorities or individuals as observation units.
We explored potential mechanisms and found that the health effects of homeownership occur through labor markets, and homeowners are more likely to get employment and spend less time traveling to work. Homeowners also spend more money on leisure and are less likely to smoke and to suffer from lifestyle-related illnesses. Research has consistently demonstrated that there is a relationship between homeownership and better health outcomes, including increased life expectancy. This is not just a mere coincidence.
Owning a home, it seems, contributes more to our well-being than simply providing shelter. The potential health benefits, both tangible and intangible, convincingly justify the old aspiration to be a homeowner. We discovered that the right to buy system increased the number of homeowners, and that this fact is associated with better levels of health, both at the macroeconomic (regional) and microeconomic (individual) levels. We observed that initial health has no statistically significant effect in predicting future ownership of a home (Table B4) (in the supplementary material))).
Over time, this knowledge could translate into better health practices and faster access to medical facilities when needed. We don't present them here because it could be argued that having children, for example, would be endogenous to both homeownership decisions and health decisions, or even both. On the other hand, a cluttered house can wreak havoc on health, as studies link clutter to increased cortisol levels and feelings of sadness. Where H is a measure of the health of zone l at time t, the landlord is the homeownership rate, X is a vector of characteristics that vary over time (see Table A1 (in the supplementary material)), μ is a fixed effect LAD, u is a temporary fixed effect, and Ω is an error term. They can help residents access safe homes, healthy food, green spaces and better jobs, says Pollack, MD, MHS, MSc, associate professor of Health Policy and Management.
However, we have some information about the characteristics of the house that could directly affect health. H is a measure of health or well-being, the owner is a binary variable equal to 1 if a person owns the house in which they live. A second potential source of concern relates to the error in measuring housing characteristics in relation to health.
