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Measuring Housing Costs and Housing Affordability Using SOEP: An Example Applied to Older Households

Author

Listed:
  • Alberto Lozano Alcántara
  • Laura Romeu Gordo

Abstract

This paper explores the methodological issues to take into account when using SOEP as a database for calculating a measure of housing costs and housing affordability. For this purpose, we focus on the evolution of housing costs for households headed by elderly people between 1998 and 2018. Our review yields two clear conclusions: (1) that SOEP represents a valuable source of data for calculating household housing costs; and (2) that it is important to take changes made in the SOEP questionnaires into account and to make the appropriate assumptions when one wishes to analyse how housing costs have evolved over time (or how they evolve over the life course). Besides, our results confirm previous studies (Romeu Gordo, Grabka, Lozano Alcántara, Engstler, & Vogel, 2019) by showing that housing costs tend to be higher for elderly tenants than for the homeowners and that this difference widened during the period between 1998 and 2018.

Suggested Citation

  • Alberto Lozano Alcántara & Laura Romeu Gordo, 2020. "Measuring Housing Costs and Housing Affordability Using SOEP: An Example Applied to Older Households," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1111, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1111
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Christian Dustmann & Bernd Fitzenberger & Markus Zimmermann, 2022. "Housing Expenditure and Income Inequality," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(645), pages 1709-1736.
    2. Laura Romeu Gordo & Markus M. Grabka & Alberto Lozano Alcántara & Heribert Engstler & Claudia Vogel, 2019. "Immer mehr ältere Haushalte sind von steigenden Wohnkosten schwer belastet," DIW Wochenbericht, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 86(27), pages 467-476.
    3. Joachim R. Frick & Steffi Grimm, 2009. "Wohnen in Deutschland nach dem Mauerfall: eine Analyse für die Jahre 1990 bis 2008 auf Basis der Daten des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP)," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 236, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    4. Sagner, Pekka & Stockhausen, Maximilian & Voigtländer, Michael, 2020. "Wohnen - die neue soziale Frage?," IW-Analysen, Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW) / German Economic Institute, volume 127, number 136.
    5. Mark Stephens & Chris Leishman, 2017. "Housing and poverty: a longitudinal analysis," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(8), pages 1039-1061, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Miriam Beblo & Sven Schreiber, 2022. "Leisure and housing consumption after retirement: new evidence on the life-cycle hypothesis," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 305-330, March.
    2. Susanne Elsas & Annika Rinklake, 2022. "Wohnkosten und materielles Wohlergehen von Familien – Analyse der Wohnkostensituation und damit zusammenhängender Wohlfahrtsvorteile," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1169, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    3. Kohl, Sebastian & Steinhardt, Max Friedrich & Stella, Luca & Voss, Simon, 2024. "Crowding (at) the margins: Investigating the unequal distribution of housing space in Germany," Discussion Papers 2024/6, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.

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