IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/apecpp/v44y2022i2p549-574.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Food insecurity among older adults in the U.S.: The role of mortgage borrowing

Author

Listed:
  • Cäzilia Loibl
  • Alec P. Rhodes
  • Stephanie Moulton
  • Donald Haurin
  • Chrisse Edmunds

Abstract

Housing wealth is the main source of wealth for many older adults. Using the Health and Retirement Study, we assess the impact of new mortgage borrowing on food insecurity among homeowners aged 65 and older. We find a substantial short‐term effect, with each additional $10,000 borrowed, lowering food insecurity by 2.2 percentage points. In a simulation of the impact of relaxing the debt‐to‐income borrowing constraint, food insecurity is reduced by 2.1 percentage points for previous nonborrowers and by 1.6 percentage points for borrowers. Results support the importance of access to mortgage borrowing to reduce material hardship in older age.

Suggested Citation

  • Cäzilia Loibl & Alec P. Rhodes & Stephanie Moulton & Donald Haurin & Chrisse Edmunds, 2022. "Food insecurity among older adults in the U.S.: The role of mortgage borrowing," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(2), pages 549-574, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:apecpp:v:44:y:2022:i:2:p:549-574
    DOI: 10.1002/aepp.13219
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13219
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/aepp.13219?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jonathan S. Skinner, 1996. "Is Housing Wealth a Sideshow?," NBER Chapters, in: Advances in the Economics of Aging, pages 241-272, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Alley, D.E. & Lloyd, J. & Pagán, J.A. & Pollack, C.E. & Shardell, M. & Cannuscio, C., 2011. "Mortgage delinquency and changes in access to health resources and depressive symptoms in a nationally representative cohort of Americans older than 50 years," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 101(12), pages 2293-2298.
    3. Campbell, John Y. & Cocco, Joao F., 2007. "How do house prices affect consumption? Evidence from micro data," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 591-621, April.
    4. Cheng, Cheng, 2017. "Anticipated support from children and later-life health in the United States and China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 201-209.
    5. Alexander Bogin & William Doerner & William Larson, 2019. "Local House Price Dynamics: New Indices and Stylized Facts," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 47(2), pages 365-398, June.
    6. repec:wly:hlthec:v:25:y:2016:i::p:57-69 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Baorong Guo, 2011. "Household Assets and Food Security: Evidence from the Survey of Program Dynamics," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 98-110, March.
    8. Dean, Wesley R. & Sharkey, Joseph R., 2011. "Food insecurity, social capital and perceived personal disparity in a predominantly rural region of Texas: An individual-level analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(9), pages 1454-1462, May.
    9. Coleman-Jensen, Alisha & Rabbitt, Matthew P. & Gregory, Christian & Singh, Anita, 2015. "Statistical Supplement to Household Food Security in the United States in 2014," Administrative Publications 292106, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    10. Daniel Cooper, 2013. "House Price Fluctuations: The Role of Housing Wealth as Borrowing Collateral," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(4), pages 1183-1197, October.
    11. Moulton, Stephanie & Haurin, Donald R. & Shi, Wei, 2015. "An analysis of default risk in the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 17-34.
    12. Jae Yeon Park & Arlette Saint Ville & Timothy Schwinghamer & Hugo Melgar-Quiñonez, 2019. "Heterogeneous factors predict food insecurity among the elderly in developed countries: insights from a multi-national analysis of 48 countries," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(3), pages 541-552, June.
    13. Katie Fitzpatrick & Nadia Greenhalgh-Stanley & Michele Ver Ploeg, 2016. "The Impact of Food Deserts on Food Insufficiency and SNAP Participation among the Elderly," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 98(1), pages 19-40.
    14. Lauren Krivo & Robert Kaufman, 2004. "Housing and wealth inequality: Racial-ethnic differences in home equity in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 41(3), pages 585-605, August.
    15. Annamaria Lusardi, 2012. "Numeracy, financial literacy, and financial decision-making," NBER Working Papers 17821, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Craig Gundersen & Brent Kreider & John V. Pepper, 2017. "Partial Identification Methods for Evaluating Food Assistance Programs: A Case Study of the Causal Impact of SNAP on Food Insecurity," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 99(4), pages 875-893.
    17. Coleman-Jensen, Alisha & Rabbitt, Matthew P. & Gregory, Christian & Singh, Anita, 2015. "Household Food Security in the United States in 2014," Economic Research Report 262204, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    18. Hamoudi, A. & Dowd, J.B., 2013. "Physical health effects of the housing boom: Quasi-experimental evidence from the health and retirement study," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 103(6), pages 1039-1045.
    19. Eleonora Fichera & John Gathergood, 2016. "Do Wealth Shocks Affect Health? New Evidence from the Housing Boom," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(S2), pages 57-69, November.
    20. Grevenbrock, Nils, 2020. "Dispositional optimism (and pessimism), wealth, and stock market participation," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    21. Alexandra Killewald, 2013. "Return to Being Black, Living in the Red: A Race Gap in Wealth That Goes Beyond Social Origins," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(4), pages 1177-1195, August.
    22. Costa-Font, Joan & Frank, Richard G. & Swartz, Katherine, 2019. "Access to long term care after a wealth shock: Evidence from the housing bubble and burst," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 13(C), pages 103-110.
    23. Marco Angrisani & Michael Hurd & Susann Rohwedder, 2019. "The Effect Of Housing Wealth Losses On Spending In The Great Recession," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 57(2), pages 972-996, April.
    24. Craig Gundersen & David R. Just & Judith Bartfeld & J. Michael Collins, 2017. "Food Insecurity, Financial Shocks, and Financial Coping Strategies among Households with Elementary School Children in Wisconsin," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 519-548, November.
    25. Craig Gundersen & David R. Just & Fei Men, 2017. "Mothers' Within-Marriage Economic Prospects and Later Food Security: Does Marital Outcome Matter?," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 682-702, November.
    26. Matthew S. Rutledge & Geoffrey T. Sanzenbacher, 2019. "What Financial Risks Do Retirees Face in Late Life?," Issues in Brief ib2019-1, Center for Retirement Research.
    27. Cleusa P Ferri & Daisy Acosta & Mariella Guerra & Yueqin Huang & Juan J Llibre-Rodriguez & Aquiles Salas & Ana Luisa Sosa & Joseph D Williams & Ciro Gaona & Zhaorui Liu & Lisseth Noriega-Fernandez & A, 2012. "Socioeconomic Factors and All Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality among Older People in Latin America, India, and China: A Population-Based Cohort Study," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(2), pages 1-14, February.
    28. Gary V. Engelhardt & Michael D. Eriksen, 2021. "Intended Bequests and Housing Equity in Older Age," Working Papers, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College 2021-02, Center for Retirement Research.
    29. Cleusa P Ferri & Daisy Acosta, 2012. "Socioeconomic Factors and All Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality among Older People in Latin America, India, and China: A Population-Based Cohort Study," Working Papers id:4828, eSocialSciences.
    30. Balestra, Pietro & Varadharajan-Krishnakumar, Jayalakshmi, 1987. "Full Information Estimations of a System of Simultaneous Equations with Error Component Structure," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(2), pages 223-246, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Moulton, Stephanie & Rhodes, Alec & Haurin, Donald & Loibl, Cäzilia, 2022. "Managing the onset of a new disease in older age: Housing wealth, mortgage borrowing, and medication adherence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    2. Atalay, Kadir & Edwards, Rebecca, 2022. "House prices, housing wealth and financial well-being," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    3. Tran, My & Gannon, Brenda & Rose, Christiern, 2023. "The effect of housing wealth on older adults’ health care utilization: Evidence from fluctuations in the U.S. housing market," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    4. Mairead Roiste & Apostolos Fasianos & Robert Kirkby & Fang Yao, 2021. "Are Housing Wealth Effects Asymmetric in Booms and Busts?," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 62(4), pages 578-628, May.
    5. Jaesang Sung & Qihua Qiu, 2020. "The Impact of Housing Prices on Health in the United States Before, During, and After the Great Recession," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(3), pages 910-940, January.
    6. Suari-Andreu, Eduard, 2021. "Housing and household consumption: An investigation of the wealth and collateral effects," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    7. Stijn Dreesen & Sven Damen, 2023. "The accuracy of homeowners’ valuations in the twenty-first century," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 65(1), pages 513-566, July.
    8. Pedro Trivin, 2022. "The wealth-consumption channel: evidence from a panel of Spanish households," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 1377-1428, December.
    9. Anil Kumar, 2018. "Do Restrictions on Home Equity Extraction Contribute to Lower Mortgage Defaults? Evidence from a Policy Discontinuity at the Texas Border," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 10(1), pages 268-297, February.
    10. Savignac, Frédérique & Arrondel, Luc & Lamarche, Pierre, 2015. "Wealth effects on consumption across the wealth distribution: empirical evidence," Working Paper Series 1817, European Central Bank.
    11. Richard Disney & John Gathergood, 2018. "House Prices, Wealth Effects and Labour Supply," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 85(339), pages 449-478, July.
    12. Xiaoqin Sun & Yuhai Su & Honglei Liu & Chengyou Li, 2022. "The Impact of House Price on Urban Household Consumption: Micro Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-20, October.
    13. Helmut Rainer & Ian Smith, 2010. "Staying together for the sake of the home?: house price shocks and partnership dissolution in the UK," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 173(3), pages 557-574, July.
    14. Henrik Yde Andersen & Søren Leth-Petersen, 2021. "Housing Wealth or Collateral: How Home Value Shocks Drive Home Equity Extraction and Spending," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 19(1), pages 403-440.
    15. Chen, Chien-fei & Nelson, Hannah & Xu, Xiaojing & Bonilla, Gregory & Jones, Nicholas, 2021. "Beyond technology adoption: Examining home energy management systems, energy burdens and climate change perceptions during COVID-19 pandemic," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    16. Khorunzhina, Natalia, 2021. "Intratemporal nonseparability between housing and nondurable consumption: Evidence from reinvestment in housing stock," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 658-670.
    17. Arrondel, Luc & Lamarche, Pierre & Savignac, Frédérique, 2019. "Does inequality matter for the consumption-wealth channel? Empirical evidence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 139-165.
    18. Thomas F. Crossley & Cormac O'Dea & Richard Blundell & Rowena Crawford & Eric French & Gemma Tetlow, 2016. "Comparing Retirement Wealth Trajectories on Both Sides of the Pond," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 37, pages 105-130, March.
    19. Nancy van Beers & Michiel Bijlsma & Remco Mocking, 2015. "House Price Shocks and Household Savings: evidence from Dutch administrative data," CPB Discussion Paper 299, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    20. Moffitt, Robert A. & Ribar, David C., 2018. "Child age and gender differences in food security in a low-income U.S. inner-city population," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 23-41.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:apecpp:v:44:y:2022:i:2:p:549-574. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)2040-5804 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.