WI25-10: Increasing Non-Homeownership, Mortgage Debt Burden, And Retirement Security: Housing Tenure In Old Age As A Source Of Systemic Disadvantage For Communities Of Color?

While homeownership remains the primary way that Americans build wealth, declining rates of homeownership suggest that a growing number of older adults will reach retirement as non-homeowners. It is also becoming common for homeowners to retire with outstanding mortgage debt, limiting the wealth building potential of homeownership. Both trends are disproportionately impacting communities of color. Utilizing publicly available and restricted data from the Health and Retirement Study, this project will document trends in housing tenure among older adults across cohorts and by race and ethnicity. We will assess the impact of housing tenure on retirement security, with a particular focus on non-homeowners and homeowners with high mortgage debt burden. We will also supplement our quantitative analysis with insights from focus groups to understand better the challenges facing older adults, especially those from communities of color, in building wealth over the life course and achieving housing and financial security in old age. The findings from this project will improve SSA’s understanding of the extent to which retired non-homeowners and homeowners with high mortgage debt face financial challenges and possible systemic racial and ethnic differences contributing to these challenges.