Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics

Working Paper Series,
Royal Institute of Technology, Department of Real Estate and Construction Management & Banking and Finance

No 15/3: Youth dwellings, higher education, and childbearing

Cecilia Enström Öst () and Mats Wilhelmsson ()
Additional contact information
Cecilia Enström Öst: Institute for Housing and Urban Research (IBF), Uppsala University and the Expert Group on Public Economics (ESO), Ministry of Finance
Mats Wilhelmsson: Centre for Banking and Finance, Postal: Royal Institute of Technology, Brinellvägen 1, 100 44 Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract: Earlier research has found that housing and childbearing are linked, difficulties accessing housing possibly delaying childbearing and negatively effecting education opportunities. To increase housing accessibility, some municipalities have earmarked apartments for young adults. These “youth dwellings” are criticized for being small and not necessarily facilitating family formation and fertility, better suiting students’ needs. We analyze the childbearing and education patterns of young adults entering youth housing in 1996. We follow them for 14 years to examine the causal effect of youth housing on childbearing and higher education using a propensity score matching technique. Results indicates that gaining access to small, low-rent inner-city rental apartments earmarked for young adults promote higher education but negatively affect childbearing, unless the rest of the housing market permits these renters to advance their housing careers.

Keywords: Housing market; Youth housing; Childbearing; Higher education

JEL-codes: I24; J13; R21

21 pages, January 26, 2015

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