Homeownership and Long-Term Care

We investigate the relationship between homeownership and institutionalization using longitudinal data from a Dutch community sample (N=2372) collected between 1992 and 2005, and find a negative effect of housing tenure on the probability of moving to a nursing home between two subsequent waves. Our discrete time duration model is able to deal with time-varying covariates like health and is flexible with respect to time effects. We have detailed information about health status, presence of a partner and children, neighborhood, and housing. The effect of tenure remains significant after controlling for their impact. A variety of additional potential explanations related to housing wealth and the price of long-term care are found to lack explanatory power. We therefore interpret our findings as the result of a strong desire among the homeowners to stay where they arein their own propertyand the better possibilities that they haveas ownersto realize this desire.