HOUSING QUALITY OF US ELDERLY HOUSEHOLDS - DOES AGING IN-PLACE MATTER

This article investigates whether older people who have lived longer i n their dwellings are more likely to occupy physically deficient accom modations. It analyzes data from the 1987 American Housing Survey desc ribing the housing conditions of 12,859 aged 60-and-older households. A multiple regression analysis assessed whether length of residential occupancy significantly influenced housing quality after controlling f or other likely influences such as building age, chronological age, ho usehold composition, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and locatio n. Overall, length of residence was a relatively poor predictor of hou sing quality, and only certain subgroups of longtime owners and renter s were more likely to occupy physically deficient dwellings.