Evolution and Determinants of Rent Burdens in Germany

Teresa Backhaus, Kathrin Gebers and Carsten Schröder

No 806, SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research from DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP)

Abstract: The affordability of housing has become a major topic of discussion in Germany among both social scientists and the public at large. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we provide rent-income ratios over more than two decades and show how they change with households’ disposable needs-adjusted income. We find a substantial increase in the ratios over the 1990s. In the decade that followed, they remained relatively constant. Moreover we find that rent-income ratios decrease in income at a decreasing rate, suggesting that rising square-meter prices put particular financial pressure on low-income households. Our analysis also indicates economies of scale from shared living space for multi-member households.

Keywords: home, amenities, and contributions of private households; income, taxes, and social security (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D1 D3 D6 I3 O18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 28 p.
Date: 2015
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp806

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