IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/max/cprwps/210.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Rental Market Discrimination against Same-Sex Couples: Evidence from an Email Correspondence Audit

Author

Abstract

As of 2017, no federal law protected Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) individuals from housing discrimination. However, 22 U.S. states and over 200 municipalities have passed laws prohibiting housing discrimination based on sexual orientation. In this paper, I present the results of a randomized pair-email correspondence audit of 6,490 property owners in 94 U.S. cities. I provide a nationally-representative estimate of the level of discrimination same-sex couples experience when inquiring about rental housing. I find that same-sex male couples, especially Black same-sex male couples, are less likely to receive a response to inquiries about rental units. Same-sex female couples receive preferential treatment compared to heterosexual couples. I then examine how state and local anti-discrimination laws covary with rates of housing discrimination against same-sex couples. Compare to localities without any housing protections, I find that response rates covary positively with statelevel protections but negatively with local-level protections. I conclude by testing several hypotheses about the causes of this discrimination. This preliminary evidence suggests that property owners are willfully discriminating against same-sex male couples.

Suggested Citation

  • David Schwegman, 2017. "Rental Market Discrimination against Same-Sex Couples: Evidence from an Email Correspondence Audit," Center for Policy Research Working Papers 210, Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University.
    • Handle: RePEc:max:cprwps:210
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://surface.syr.edu/cpr/240/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hanson, Andrew & Hawley, Zackary, 2011. "Do landlords discriminate in the rental housing market? Evidence from an internet field experiment in US cities," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2-3), pages 99-114, September.
    2. John Yinger, 1998. "Evidence on Discrimination in Consumer Markets," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 23-40, Spring.
    3. Ahmed, Ali M. & Andersson, Lina & Hammarstedt, Mats, 2008. "Are lesbians discriminated against in the rental housing market? Evidence from a correspondence testing experiment," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 234-238, September.
    4. Ali M. Ahmed & Mats Hammarstedt, 2009. "Detecting Discrimination against Homosexuals: Evidence from a Field Experiment on the Internet," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 76(303), pages 588-597, July.
    5. David Card & Alexandre Mas & Jesse Rothstein, 2008. "Tipping and the Dynamics of Segregation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(1), pages 177-218.
    6. Stephen L. Ross & John Yinger, 2002. "The Color of Credit: Mortgage Discrimination, Research Methodology, and Fair-Lending Enforcement," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262182289, April.
    7. Yinger, John, 1986. "Measuring Racial Discrimination with Fair Housing Audits: Caught in the Act," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(5), pages 881-893, December.
    8. Bosch, Mariano & Carnero, M. Angeles & Farré, Lídia, 2010. "Information and discrimination in the rental housing market: Evidence from a field experiment," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 11-19, January.
    9. Zhao, Bo, 2005. "Does the number of houses a broker shows depend on a homeseeker's race?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 128-147, January.
    10. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "Are Emily and Greg More Employable Than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 991-1013, September.
    11. Hanson, Andrew & Hawley, Zackary & Taylor, Aryn, 2011. "Subtle discrimination in the rental housing market: Evidence from e-mail correspondence with landlords," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 276-284.
    12. Mays, V.M. & Cochran, S.D., 2001. "Mental health correlates of perceived discrimination among lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults in the United States," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 91(11), pages 1869-1876.
    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. Hanson, Andrew & Hawley, Zackary, 2014. "Where does racial discrimination occur? An experimental analysis across neighborhood and housing unit characteristics," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 94-106.
    2. Hanson, Andrew & Hawley, Zackary & Taylor, Aryn, 2011. "Subtle discrimination in the rental housing market: Evidence from e-mail correspondence with landlords," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 276-284.
    3. Auspurg, Katrin & Hinz, Thomas & Schmid, Laura, 2017. "Contexts and conditions of ethnic discrimination: Evidence from a field experiment in a German housing market," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 26-36.
    4. Chan, Eric W. & Fan, Yulian, 2023. "Housing discrimination in the low-income context: Evidence from a correspondence experiment," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(PA).
    5. Gaddis, S. Michael, 2018. "An Introduction to Audit Studies in the Social Sciences," SocArXiv e5hfc, Center for Open Science.
    6. Murchie, Judson & Pang, Jindong, 2018. "Rental housing discrimination across protected classes: Evidence from a randomized experiment," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 170-179.
    7. Andrew Hanson & Michael Santas, 2014. "Field Experiment Tests for Discrimination against Hispanics in the U.S. Rental Housing Market," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 81(1), pages 135-167, July.
    8. Hanson, Andrew & Hawley, Zackary, 2011. "Do landlords discriminate in the rental housing market? Evidence from an internet field experiment in US cities," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2-3), pages 99-114, September.
    9. Carlsson, Magnus & Eriksson, Stefan, 2014. "Discrimination in the rental market for apartments," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 41-54.
    10. Mattie Mackenzie-Liu & David J. Schwegman & Leonard M. Lopoo, 2020. "Do Foster Care Agencies Discriminate Against Gay Couples? Evidence from a Correspondence Study," Center for Policy Research Working Papers 224, Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University.
    11. Mattie Mackenzie‐Liu & David J. Schwegman & Leonard M. Lopoo, 2021. "Do Foster Care Agencies Discriminate Against Gay Couples? Evidence from a Correspondence Study," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(4), pages 1140-1170, September.
    12. Chareyron, Sylvain & L'Horty, Yannick & Mbaye, Souleymane & Petit, Pascale, 2023. "Reducing ethnic discrimination through formal warning: Evidence from two combined field experiments," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    13. Abbate, Nicolás & Berniell, Inés & Coleff, Joaquín & Laguinge, Luis & Machelett, Margarita & Marchionni, Mariana & Pedrazzi, Julián & Pinto, María Florencia, 2024. "Discrimination against gay and transgender people in Latin America: A correspondence study in the rental housing market," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    14. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo, 2016. "Field Experiments on Discrimination," NBER Working Papers 22014, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Mourelatos, Evangelos & Oikarinen, Elias, 2023. "Ethnic discrimination during wartime: Evidence from a field experiment in the Finnish housing market," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    16. Mathieu Bunel & Samuel Gorohouna & Yannick L’Horty & Pascale Petit & Catherine Ris, 2019. "Ethnic Discrimination in the Rental Housing Market: An Experiment in New Caledonia," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 42(1), pages 65-97, January.
    17. Andrew Hanson & Zackary Hawley, 2023. "Restricted access: Real estate agent response to client race, ethnicity, gender, and side of market," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 51(4), pages 855-890, July.
    18. Luca Fumarco, 2017. "Disability Discrimination in the Italian Rental Housing Market: A Field Experiment with Blind Tenants," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 93(4), pages 567-584.
    19. Murchie, Judson & Pang, Jindong & Schwegman, David J., 2021. "Can information help Lakisha and Jamal find housing? Evidence from a low-cost online experiment of landlords," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    20. Souleymane Mbaye, 2019. "Trois évaluations d’actions de lutte contre les discriminations," Erudite Ph.D Dissertations, Erudite, number ph19-01 edited by Pascale Petit.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    LGBTQ Discrimination; Same-Sex Households; Housing Audits; State and Local Laws; Rental Market Discrimination;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • R21 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:max:cprwps:210. 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: Katrina Fiacchi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cpsyrus.html .

    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.