In addition to tangible financial benefits, research has shown that homeownership brings substantial social benefits for families, communities, and the country as a whole. Because of the societal benefits, policy makers have prompted homeownership through a number of channels. Homeownership has been an essential element of the American Dream for decades and continues to be so even today.
- Increase charitable activity.
- Civic participation in both local community and national issues (including voting).
- Greater awareness of the political process.
- Higher incidence of membership in voluntary organizations and church attendance.
- Greater social capital generated.
- Great attachment to the neighborhood and neighbors.
- Lower teen pregnancy by children’s living in owned homes.
- Higher student test scores by children’s living in owned homes.
- Higher rate of high school graduation thereby higher earnings.
- Children more likely to participate in organized activities and have less television screen time.
- Homeowners take on a great responsibility such as home maintenance and acquiring the financial skills to handle mortgage payments and those skills transfer to their children.
- Lower teenage delinquencies.
- General increase in positive outlook to life.
- Homeowners reported higher life satisfaction, higher self-esteem, happiness, and higher perceived control over their lives.
- Better health outcomes, better physical and physical and psychological health.
- Tremendous wealth gains for homeowners under normal housing market conditions (outside of the terrible bubble/bust housing years)
- Homeowners not only experience a significant increase in housing satisfaction, but also obtain a higher satisfaction even in the same home in which they resided as renters.
- Family financial situation and housing tenure during childhood and adulthood, impacted one’s self-rated health (in particular, the socioeconomic disadvantage indicated by not being able to save any money or not owning or purchasing a home are less likely to self-rate their health as excellent or very good).
- Less likely to become crime victims.
- Homeowners better maintain their homes, and high quality structure also raise mental health, renter-occupied housing appreciated less than owner-occupied housing.
- Housing prices are higher in high-ownership neighborhoods.
- Maintenance behavior of individual homeowners is influenced by those of their neighbors.
