Homeownership Tied To Unemployment The study was put together by economists Richard K. Green at the Wisconsin School of Business and Patric Hendershott of OSU's Fisher School of Business. It was funded in part by the National Multi-Housing Council in Washington in the hope of "balancing" the voices of housing policy who believe home ownership must be the primary goal of the nation. The NMHC argues that rental housing should not be overlooked in the housing mix. While the Green/Hendershott study comes to no stunning conclusions, it nevertheless provides an interesting statistical window on how home ownership relates to the nation's social fabric. At its core, the study finds a relationship between high unemployment and high home ownership. Not surprisingly, it argues that homeowners who lose their jobs tend to be immobile - preferring not to migrate to where new job opportunities might be because, in part, of the lump-sum costs associated with buying, financing and selling a house. Therefore, the study suggests, homeowners who are out of work tend to stay out of work longer than renters who are laid off because owners need to find suitable jobs locally. Also, the longer they are out of work, the more of a drain home owners are on public services and even the courts. Green and Hendershott quote author J.Q. Wilson's book, "Thinking about Crime," which argues "the tensions arising from unemployment can push those with a predisposition for crime into actually committing crime. The unemployed also need more in the way of social services than the employed, and therefore impose social costs on society". The Green/Hendershott study notes that especially hard hit are laborers in the 35 to 50 year old range. Factory layoffs of hundreds or even thousands of workers tend to strike in those age ranges. Layoffs depress housing markets, making it even harder to sell homes at reasonable prices. The home owning unemployed see the value looted from their homes even while being required to make high mortgage payments that erode family reserves. Using 1990 numbers, the study identifies West Virginia as having one of the nation's highest ownership rate, 74.1 percent, but also a high unemployment rate, 8.3 percent. It names Hawaii has having low home ownership, 53. 9 percent, and low unemployment, 2.8 percent. "This finding is significant from a public policy standpoint if you consider the social service and other costs to society associated with unemployment," said Jonathan Kempner of the NMHC. "By showing that rental housing may improve the ability of workers to adjust to changing labor market conditions in a way that increase their incomes and promote national economic growth, this research underscores the need for a better balance between rental and for sale housing in our national housing policy debates." | 
