Research
Housing & Happiness
How does Housing Make Us Happy?
| "The American Dream or The American Delusion? The Private and External Benefits of Homeownership for Women" | |
| Date | April 2011 (Under Review) |
| Subject | Housing and Happiness |
| Keywords | Housing consumption, Homeownership, Well-being, Happiness |
| Abstract | This paper uses a unique data set with housing consumption, well-being measures and time use patterns to explore the implications of homeownership. After controlling for income, housing quality and health, female homeowners are not better off than renters by a variety of measures, both global and situational. Instead, they derive significantly more pain from their house and home – comparable to the unadjusted increase from a doubling in home value. Differences in financial security, health, self-esteem, perceived control, stress level cannot account for the well-being results. One potential mechanism is time use differences: female homeowners tend to spend less time on enjoyable activities, such as active leisure. |
| "Be it Ever So Humble: Understanding Housing Using Subjective Well-being Data" | |
| Date | February 2007 |
| Subject | Housing and Happiness |
| Keywords | Housing consumption; Well-being |
| Abstract | This paper presents new evidence on the utility – or well-being – derived from housing. There are three areas of focus: 1) how people feel at home versus outside home and if there is a positive athome differential, especially with respect to housing as a complementary good to family life; 2) whether well-being related to housing consumption varies by home values and homeownership status; and 3) if and how neighborhood home prices relate to home related well-being measures. |