Measuring the Benefits of Homeowning: Effects on Children

Abstract

We find that children of homeowners have better outcomes than children of renters whether their parents make a large or small initial investment in their home, as long as they make a minimal down payment when they buy their homes. Children with parents who made no down payment have similar outcomes to children of renters. The effect of homeownership holds up under myriad specifications, measuring initial housing investment as either an LTV ratio or a down payment dollar amount, and controlling for parent and family characteristics and geographic and year fixed effects.