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The effect of Widowhood on Housing and Location Choices

Author

Listed:
  • Carole Bonnet

    (INED - Institut national d'études démographiques)

  • Laurent Gobillon

    (INED - Institut national d'études démographiques, PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, CREST - Centre de Recherche en Économie et Statistique - ENSAI - Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Analyse de l'Information [Bruz] - X - École polytechnique - ENSAE Paris - École Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Économique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Anne Laferrère

    (CREST - Centre de Recherche en Économie et Statistique - ENSAI - Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Analyse de l'Information [Bruz] - X - École polytechnique - ENSAE Paris - École Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Économique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (INSEE))

Abstract

The number of elderly persons living alone is increasing and their influence on the housing market is getting larger. This paper investigates the effect of the loss of a spouse on housing and location choices. A partner's death induces a decrease in income which may lead to downsizing. Widowhood may also reveal new preferences, such as the need to be close to care givers and health services. We estimate the effect of a transition to widowhood on housing consumption and location choices using the French Housing Surveys. Widowhood significantly increases residential mobility, especially at older ages and for those who have children. Mobile widows tend to live closer to their relatives but do not move to co-reside with a child. Housing and location adjustments are consistent with new widows moving to dwellings that are smaller, more often apartments and in the rental sector, and on average located in larger municipalities where services are more accessible. The housing demand of widows will be significant in the next 20 years, especially the demand for small dwellings.

Suggested Citation

  • Carole Bonnet & Laurent Gobillon & Anne Laferrère, 2010. "The effect of Widowhood on Housing and Location Choices," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-00754442, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:pseptp:halshs-00754442
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhe.2010.04.003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Viola Angelini & Anne Laferrère, 2012. "Residential Mobility of the European Elderly," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 58(3), pages 544-569, September.
    3. Zahia Ouadah-Bedidi, 2012. "Fécondité et nuptialité différentielles en Algérie : l'apport du recensement de 1998," Working Papers 185, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED).
    4. Ravi Pendakur & Nathan Young, 2013. "Putting on the moves," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 29(28), pages 767-796.
    5. Carlos Pestana Barros & Zhongfei Chen & Luis A. Gil-Alana, 2012. "Housing sales in urban Beijing," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(34), pages 4495-4504, December.
    6. Dolores Sesma Carlos & Michel Oris & Jan Kok, 2022. "Coping with ageing: An historical longitudinal study of internal return migrations later in life in the Netherlands," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 46(27), pages 767-808.
    7. Rosalind Edwards & Susie Weller & Emma Davidson & Lynn Jamieson, 2023. "Small Stories of Home Moves: A Gendered and Generational Breadth-and-Depth Investigation," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 28(1), pages 210-227, March.
    8. de Jong Petra & Brouwer Aleid, 2012. "Residential Mobility of Older Adults in the Dutch Housing Market: Do Individual Characteristics and Housing Attributes Have an Effect on Mobility?," European Spatial Research and Policy, Sciendo, vol. 19(1), pages 33-47, July.
    9. Zuzana Žilinčíková & Christine Schnor, 2021. "Who moves out and who keeps the home? Short-term and medium-term mobility consequences of grey divorce in Belgium," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 45(9), pages 291-328.
    10. Johannes Schuenemann & Holger Strulik & Timo Trimborn, 2020. "The Marriage Gap: Optimal Aging and Death in Partnerships," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 36, pages 158-176, April.
    11. Alexandra Schaffar & Michel Dimou & El Mouhoub Mouhoud, 2019. "The determinants of elderly migration in France," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 98(2), pages 951-972, April.
    12. Cris Beauchemin & Hugues Lagrange & Mirna Safi, 2011. "Transnationalism and immigrant assimilation in France : between here and there ?," Working Papers 172, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED).
    13. Xun Bian & Zhenguo Lin, 2022. "Housing debt and elderly housing tenure choices," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 50(5), pages 1360-1397, September.

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