IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolet/v254y2025ics0165176525003295.html

Alienating the American dream: Welfare reform and immigrant homeownership

Author

Listed:
  • Gamino, Aaron M.
  • Afolayan, Feyisayo

Abstract

This study examines the impact of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) on homeownership among immigrants in the US. Using IPUMS CPS data from 1994 to 2019, we conduct an event study and estimate a difference-in-differences model to compare immigrant homeownership with that of natives based on the year of immigration. Our findings indicate that PRWORA led to a significant decline in the likelihood of immigrants owning a home. Notably, among immigrants, the likelihood of homeownership declined the most for Hispanics, while those with higher levels of education experienced comparatively smaller reductions. These findings contribute to policy discussions on the unintended economic effects of welfare restrictions and highlight the role of social safety nets in promoting financial stability.

Suggested Citation

  • Gamino, Aaron M. & Afolayan, Feyisayo, 2025. "Alienating the American dream: Welfare reform and immigrant homeownership," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 254(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:254:y:2025:i:c:s0165176525003295
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2025.112492
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165176525003295
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econlet.2025.112492?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bhashkar Mazumder & Sarah Miller, 2016. "The Effects of the Massachusetts Health Reform on Household Financial Distress," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 8(3), pages 284-313, August.
    2. Masanori Kuroki & Xiangbo Liu, 2021. "The Effect of Health Insurance Coverage on Homeownership and Housing Prices: Evidence from the Medicaid Expansion," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(2), pages 633-648, March.
    3. Brevoort, Kenneth & Grodzicki, Daniel & Hackmann, Martin B., 2020. "The credit consequences of unpaid medical bills," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    4. Hu, Luojia & Kaestner, Robert & Mazumder, Bhashkar & Miller, Sarah & Wong, Ashley, 2018. "The effect of the affordable care act Medicaid expansions on financial wellbeing," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 99-112.
    5. Carlos Dobkin & Amy Finkelstein & Raymond Kluender & Matthew J. Notowidigdo, 2018. "The Economic Consequences of Hospital Admissions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(2), pages 308-352, February.
    6. Dodini, Samuel & Larrimore, Jeff & Tranfaglia, Anna, 2024. "Financial repercussions of SNAP work requirements," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    7. Gross, Tal & Notowidigdo, Matthew J., 2011. "Health insurance and the consumer bankruptcy decision: Evidence from expansions of Medicaid," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7-8), pages 767-778, August.
    8. Coulson, N. Edward, 1999. "Why Are Hispanic- and Asian-American Homeownership Rates So Low?: Immigration and Other Factors," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 209-227, March.
    9. Turner, Tracy M. & Luea, Heather, 2009. "Homeownership, wealth accumulation and income status," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 104-114, June.
    10. Stephen Whelan, 2017. "Does homeownership affect education outcomes?," World of Labour, LISER, pages 342-342, April.
    11. Coulson, N. Edward & Li, Herman, 2013. "Measuring the external benefits of homeownership," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 57-67.
    12. Robert B. Avery & Neil Bhutta & Kenneth P. Brevoort & Glenn B. Canner, 2011. "The mortgage market in 2010: highlights from the data reported under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act," Federal Reserve Bulletin, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), vol. 97(6).
    13. Argys, Laura M. & Friedson, Andrew I. & Pitts, M. Melinda & Tello-Trillo, D. Sebastian, 2020. "Losing public health insurance: TennCare reform and personal financial distress," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    14. Robert B. Avery & Raphael W. Bostic & Paul S. Calem & Glenn B. Canner, 1996. "Credit risk, credit scoring, and the performance of home mortgages," Federal Reserve Bulletin, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), vol. 82(Jul), pages 621-648, July.
    15. Sarah Miller & Luojia Hu & Robert Kaestner & Bhashkar Mazumder & Ashley Wong, 2021. "The ACA Medicaid Expansion in Michigan and Financial Health," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(2), pages 348-375, March.
    16. Laurie S. Goodman & Christopher Mayer, 2018. "Homeownership and the American Dream," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 32(1), pages 31-58, Winter.
    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. Nathan Blascak & Vyacheslav Mikhed, 2023. "Health Insurance and Young Adult Financial Distress," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(2), pages 393-423, March.
    2. Yaa Akosa Antwi & Marion Aouad & Nathan Blascak, 2025. "Hospital Billing Regulations and Financial Well-Being: Evidence from California’s Fair Pricing Law," Working Papers 25-39, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    3. Christa Gibbs & Benedict Guttman-Kenney & Donghoon Lee & Scott Nelson & Wilbert van der Klaauw & Jialan Wang, 2025. "Consumer Credit Reporting Data," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 63(2), pages 598-636, June.
    4. Sarah Miller & Luojia Hu & Robert Kaestner & Bhashkar Mazumder & Ashley Wong, 2021. "The ACA Medicaid Expansion in Michigan and Financial Health," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(2), pages 348-375, March.
    5. Michael Batty & Christa Gibbs & Benedic Ippolito, 2022. "Health insurance, medical debt, and financial well‐being," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(5), pages 689-728, May.
    6. Owen (O.A.) O'Donnell, 2019. "Financial Protection Against Medical Expense," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 19-010/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    7. Jang, Youngsoo, 2019. "Credit, Default, and Optimal Health Insurance," MPRA Paper 95397, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. O'Donnell, Owen, 2024. "Health and health system effects on poverty: A narrative review of global evidence," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    9. Gilad Sorek & T. Randolph Beard, 2023. "Background risk and consumers' demand for insurance under limited liability," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 90(2), pages 277-290, October.
    10. Lindsey Rose Bullinger, 2021. "Child Support and the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid Expansions," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(1), pages 42-77, January.
    11. Cortnie Shupe, 2023. "Public Health Insurance and Medical Spending: The Incidence of the ACA Medicaid Expansion," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(1), pages 137-165, January.
    12. Brevoort, Kenneth & Grodzicki, Daniel & Hackmann, Martin B., 2020. "The credit consequences of unpaid medical bills," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    13. Michael R. Richards & Sebastian Tello‐Trillo, 2021. "Private coverage mandates, business cycles, and provider treatment intensity," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 1200-1221, May.
    14. Masanori Kuroki, 2021. "The effect of health insurance coverage on personal bankruptcy: evidence from the Medicaid expansion," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 429-451, June.
    15. Seonghoon Kim & Kanghyock Koh, 2022. "Health insurance and subjective well‐being: Evidence from two healthcare reforms in the United States," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 233-249, January.
    16. Amy Finkelstein & Sarah Miller & Katherine Baicker, 2024. "The Effect of Medicaid on Crime: Evidence from the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment," NBER Working Papers 33244, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Anne Fitzpatrick & Katie Fitzpatrick, 2021. "Health insurance transitions and use of fringe banks: Evidence from the Affordable Care Act," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(3), pages 557-572, July.
    18. Swensen, Isaac D. & Urban, Carly, 2023. "Literature Review on the Effect of Physical and Mental Health on Financial Well-Being," IZA Policy Papers 198, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Lindsey Rose Bullinger & Sebastian Tello-Trillo, 2021. "Connecting Medicaid and child support: evidence from the TennCare disenrollment," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 785-812, September.
    20. Argys, Laura M. & Friedson, Andrew I. & Pitts, M. Melinda & Tello-Trillo, D. Sebastian, 2020. "Losing public health insurance: TennCare reform and personal financial distress," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:eee:ecolet:v:254:y:2025:i:c:s0165176525003295. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolet .

    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.