Racial and Ethnic Inequality in Homeownership and Housing Equity

Abstract

Wcalth inequality, particularly in housing, has received increased attention in recent years for its importance to racial and ethnic stratification. Yet, while we know a fair amount about black-white wealth inequality, many questions remain regarding sources of Hispanic asset inequality. This article addresses this gap by examining racial and ethnic inequality in homeownership and housing equity among the preretirement population. Results support a stratification perspective of inequality for both blacks and Hispanics; cven after accounting for numerous life-cycle, resource, and social-psychological considerations, blacks and Hispanics continue to lag significantly behind whites in housing wcalth. While Hispanics initially appear better off than blacks with respect to housing, this is largely a function of their more favorable family structure. lmportant differences between blacks and Hispanics in the main contributors to housing inequality highlight the need to take a more multiethnic perspective on wealth stratification.

Housing Tenure and Residential Segregation in Metropolitan America

“…Just over 69 % of the metropolitan population live in owner-occupied housing, and nearly 31 % live in renter-occupied housing. The data disaggregated by race and ethnicity, however, reveal a significant white-nonwhite disparity in access to homeownership, consistent with findings noted elsewhere (e.g., Alba and Logan 1992; Flippen 2001). While 75.0 % of the white population live in owner-occupied housing, less than half of blacks and Hispanics and fewer than 60 % of Asians live in such housing.…”

Wealth Inequality and Accumulation

“…Compared to whites, African-Americans have substantially lower rates of homeownership, transition to homeownership more slowly, own homes of lower values, have less housing equity, and exit homeownership at higher rates; these differences generally persist even after adjusting for race differences in other characteristics (Charles & Hurst 2002, Flippen 2001, Keister 2000, 2004; Killewald & Bryan 2016, Krivo & Kaufman 2004, Sharp & Hall 2014). Coupled with research on homeownership’s wealth benefits, the evidence suggests that African-Americans are disadvantaged by their lower rates of homeownership.…”

“…Like African-Americans, Hispanics are particularly disadvantaged relative to whites in absolute terms at higher points in the wealth distribution (Maroto 2016). Compared to whites, Hispanics have lower rates of homeownership, transition to homeownership more slowly, have higher rates of homeownership exit, possess less home equity than whites, and experience smaller wealth benefits from homeownership (Flippen 2001, Killewald & Bryan 2016, Krivo & Kaufman 2004). Of course, the Hispanic population in the United States is diverse, and wealth patterns may differ by ethnicity, national origin, and immigrant generation.…”

Relations between housing characteristics and the well-being of low-income children and adolescents.

“…Extant research supports this supposition, finding, for example, that cultural norms and personal preferences (Crowley, 2003), family size and structure (Schacter, 2001), and family human and financial capital (Conley, 2001) are associated with specific aspects of housing such as quality, stability, type, and cost. Similarly, external factors such as local housing policies and housing stock as well as processes of housing discrimination also are associated with families’ access to and selection into housing (Flippen, 2001; Turner & Kingsley, 2008). Hence, research which seeks to assess associations among housing contexts and children's development must attend to these important selection factors.…”