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Income-Poor, Asset-Rich? The Role of Homeownership in Shaping the Welfare Position of the Elderly

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  • Edyta Marcinkiewicz
  • Filip Chybalski

Abstract

Our study contributes to the discussion about the extent of the phenomenon of the ‘income-poor, asset-rich’ elderly households, which can be associated with high homeownership rate in this group. However, we do not limit our analyses to this single category where low income is paired with high wealth, but rather explore the distribution of elderly households in terms of combinations of different levels of income and wealth. This way we shed some light on the existing patterns with reference to this distribution. This study focuses on the significance of homeownership and its impact on the welfare position of the elderly relative to the total population. We employ microdata from the Luxembourg Wealth Study Dataset (LWS) for 12 European countries. The results of the empirical research allow to draw some conclusions. First, ‘income-poor, asset-rich’ elderly households are a quite marginal category. Second, in the case of most countries studied, higher homeownership rates among elderly households, as compared to non-elderly households, are not accompanied by proportionally greater household wealth, even though the non-elderly are additionally burdened by the mortgage debt. However, we also find some evidence that homeownership is positively associated with the welfare position of the elderly.

Suggested Citation

  • Edyta Marcinkiewicz & Filip Chybalski, 2022. "Income-Poor, Asset-Rich? The Role of Homeownership in Shaping the Welfare Position of the Elderly," LWS Working papers 38, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    • Handle: RePEc:lis:lwswps:38
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