The Transmission of Homeownership in the United States: How Much Does Family Matter?

Bohyun Joy Jang, Ohio State University
William A. V. Clark, University of California, Los Angeles
Anastasia R. Snyder, Ohio State University

Research in Europe has shown strong evidence of intergenerational transmission of homeownership either via financial supports or socialization. This paper extends that research to the US context and asks the question about whether or not the same factors play a role in the transmission of homeownership in the United States. We further expand the previous research by accounting for housing trajectories of both parents and children using the longitudinal information of NLSY79 and NLSY79 child/young adult. Although it is not possible to replicate the exact same set of variables, the analysis does show that having parents who are owners is a positive effect on the likelihood of being an owner as is education and income in the US. Unlike the research in Europe it does not appear that parent’s net worth or parent’s income is an important variable in the transmission of homeownership.