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A Home of One's Own: Aging and Homeownership in the United States in the late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

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  • Michael R. Haines
  • Allen C. Goodman

Abstract

One of the principal types of wealth accumulation in the United States has been real property, especially in the form of homes as the society became more urban and less agricultural. At present, almost two-thirds of all American households reside in owner-occupied structures. The present paper explores this phenomenon for the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries from the standpoint of property accumulation over the life course. Age patterns of homeownership for urban and rural non-farm households are the central concern. Drawing on micro samples of the 1865 New York State census and the 1900 united States census, micro data on the 6,809 worker families residing in the united States in the 1889/90 U.S. Commissioner of Labor Survey, and published data from the 1890 and 1930 united States censuses, the incidence of homeownership by age of household head is described. The level of the ownership curve (by age) has risen over time, and its shape has changed. Differences by region and rural-urban residence are shown to have existed. Differentials between native and foreign-born whites narrowed from the late nineteenth century to circa 1930, but those by race (black versus white) persisted.

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  • Michael R. Haines & Allen C. Goodman, 1991. "A Home of One's Own: Aging and Homeownership in the United States in the late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries," NBER Historical Working Papers 0021, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberhi:0021
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Modigliani, Franco, 1988. "The Role of Intergenerational Transfers and Life Cycle Saving in the Accumulation of Wealth," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 2(2), pages 15-40, Spring.
    2. Michael R. Haines & Allen C. Goodman, 1989. "Buying the American Dream: Housing Demand in the United States in the Late Nineteenth Century," NBER Historical Working Papers 0005, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Laurence J. Kotlikoff, 1989. "What Determines Savings?," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262611872, April.
    4. Snowden, Kenneth A., 1987. "Mortgage Rates and American Capital Market Development in the Late Nineteenth Century," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 47(3), pages 671-691, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Raquel Fernandez, 2010. "Women's Rights and Development," Working Papers 2011-029, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    2. Di Matteo, Livio, 2013. "Women, wealth and economic change: An assessment of the impact of women's property law in Wentworth County, Ontario, 1872–1927," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 285-307.
    3. Livio Di Matteo, 2008. "Wealth accumulation motives: evidence from the probate records of Ontario, 1892 and 1902," Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 2(2), pages 143-171, July.
    4. Susan B. Carter & Richard Sutch, 1997. "Historical Perspectives on the Economic Consequences of Immigration into the United States," NBER Historical Working Papers 0106, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Ellen Kramarow, 1995. "The elderly who live alone in the united states: Historical perspectives on household change," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 32(3), pages 335-352, August.

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