Build better health: evidence from Ireland on housing quality and mortality

Alan de Bromhead, Ronan C. Lyons and Johann Ohler

Economic History Working Papers from London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History

Abstract: Poor housing conditions, and the negative effects of Household Air Pollution (HAP) in particular, remain one of the most pressing global public health challenges. While the association between poor housing and health has a long history, evidence of a direct link is lacking. In this paper, we examine a rare example of a public housing intervention in rural areas, namely the large-scale provision of high-quality housing in Ireland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. We exploit a novel dataset of deaths-by-disease and deaths-by-age-and-sex over the period 1871–1919, to test the impact of the intervention on mortality. Our difference-in difference estimates indicate that improved housing conditions reduced mortality by as much as 1 death per 1000. This effect is driven by reductions in deaths from respiratory diseases. We propose a likely mechanism that is consistent with the pattern of results we observe: a reduction in Household Air Pollution through improved housing quality and better ventilation. A cost-benefit analysis reveals that the scheme was a highly cost-effective intervention.

Keywords: Ireland; Labourers Act; household air pollution; health transition; social housing; infectious disease (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J10 N33 N93 O18 Q53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 52 pages
Date: 2025-10
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