TY - JOUR
T1 - House poor in Los Angeles
T2 - Examining patterns of housing-induced poverty by race, nativity, and legal status
AU - McConnell, Eileen
N1 - Funding Information:
This research is supported by grant R03 HD058915-01A1 from the National Institute of Child Health and Development. The author appreciates the research assistance of Tun Lin Moe, suggestions by the editor and anonymous reviewers on earlier versions of the manuscript, the advice of Miguel Montiel and Richard A. Williams, and the information provided by Sylvia 22Other tax breaks for homeowners include the deduction of local and state property taxes on owner-occupied residences and that homeowners do not declare as income the rent that they would otherwise pay if they were renting the residence (Subsidyscope 2011).
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Housing affordability in the United States is generally operationalized using the ratio approach, with those allocating more than thirty percent of income to shelter costs considered to have housing affordability challenges. Alternative standards have been developed that focus on residual income, whether income remaining after housing expenditures is sufficient to meet non-housing needs. This study employs Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey data to consider racial/ethnic, nativity and legal status differences in one residual income standard. Logistic regression analyses of housing-induced poverty focus on whether there are differences among five distinct groups: US born Latinos, Non-Hispanic Whites, and African Americans, authorized Latino immigrants, and unauthorized Latino immigrants. Results suggest that: (1) Latino natives are significantly more likely to be in housing-induced poverty than African Americans and Latino immigrants, and (2) unauthorized Latino immigrants are not more likely to experience the outcome than other groups. The present work extends previous research. First, the results provide additional evidence of the value of operationalizing housing affordability using a residual income standard. Alternatives to the ratio approach deserve more empirical attention from a wider range of scholars and policymakers interested in housing affordability. Second, housing scholarship to date generally differentiates among Latinos by ethnicity, nativity, and citizenship. The present study contributes to emerging research investigating heterogeneity among Latinos by nativity and legal status.
AB - Housing affordability in the United States is generally operationalized using the ratio approach, with those allocating more than thirty percent of income to shelter costs considered to have housing affordability challenges. Alternative standards have been developed that focus on residual income, whether income remaining after housing expenditures is sufficient to meet non-housing needs. This study employs Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey data to consider racial/ethnic, nativity and legal status differences in one residual income standard. Logistic regression analyses of housing-induced poverty focus on whether there are differences among five distinct groups: US born Latinos, Non-Hispanic Whites, and African Americans, authorized Latino immigrants, and unauthorized Latino immigrants. Results suggest that: (1) Latino natives are significantly more likely to be in housing-induced poverty than African Americans and Latino immigrants, and (2) unauthorized Latino immigrants are not more likely to experience the outcome than other groups. The present work extends previous research. First, the results provide additional evidence of the value of operationalizing housing affordability using a residual income standard. Alternatives to the ratio approach deserve more empirical attention from a wider range of scholars and policymakers interested in housing affordability. Second, housing scholarship to date generally differentiates among Latinos by ethnicity, nativity, and citizenship. The present study contributes to emerging research investigating heterogeneity among Latinos by nativity and legal status.
KW - Affordability
KW - Immigration
KW - Minorities
KW - Residual income
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U2 - 10.1080/10511482.2012.697908
DO - 10.1080/10511482.2012.697908
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84868127021
SN - 1051-1482
VL - 22
SP - 605
EP - 631
JO - Housing Policy Debate
JF - Housing Policy Debate
IS - 4
ER -