Volume 46 - Article 16 | Pages 453–502  

Do tenants suffer from status syndrome? Homeownership, norms, and suicide in Belgium

By Joan Damiens, Christine Schnor

Abstract

Background: Death by suicide is particularly high for the middle-aged and for single and/or childless individuals. At the same time, the risk of suicide is higher for tenants than for homeowners. The literature linking housing tenure and suicide according to age, gender, and family configuration is scarce.

Objective: This study examines the varying association between housing tenure and suicide risk according to sex, age (for adults), and household composition.

Methods: We used data from Belgium’s National Register linked to 2001 census data and death certificates. We conducted multinomial logit regression to estimate the mortality relative risk ratios by suicide and by other causes in the population aged 25 to 69 years in 2002, separately by sex.

Results: We find that homeownership was negatively associated with suicide risk for both men and women, before and after controlling for age, housing quality, and demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Interacting age and housing tenure, we find that renting is associated with a higher risk of suicide among adults in their 40s and 50s, but not among younger and older adults. Among marital and parental statuses, married men and single women with no children at home present a higher risk of suicide in mid-life when renting, compared to owning.

Conclusions: Homeownership is associated with a lower suicide risk for middle-aged populations, more specifically for married men, unpartnered women, and individuals living without children.

Contribution: Our research provides a better understanding of the role of gender and family norms in the association between housing tenure and suicide mortality.

Author’s Affiliation

• Joan Damiens - Helsingin Yliopisto (University of Helsinki), Finland EMAIL
• Christine Schnor - Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Stability in children’s residential arrangements and distance to nonresident parents in the 10 years after parental separation
Volume 49 - Article 12

Who moves out and who keeps the home? Short-term and medium-term mobility consequences of grey divorce in Belgium
Volume 45 - Article 9

Remain, leave, or return? Mothers’ location continuity after separation in Belgium
Volume 42 - Article 9

Stepfather or biological father? Education-specific pathways of postdivorce fatherhood
Volume 37 - Article 51

Does waiting pay off for couples? Partnership duration prior to household formation and union stability
Volume 33 - Article 22

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

Examining the relationships between education, coresidential unions, and the fertility gap by simulating the reproductive life courses of Dutch women
Volume 52 - Article 24    | Keywords: contraception, education, fertility, GGS, life course, LISS, microsimulation, Netherlands, physiology, unions

Can we estimate crisis death tolls by subtracting total population estimates? A critical review and appraisal
Volume 52 - Article 23    | Keywords: conflict demography, death tolls, demographic methods, historical demography, mortality, mortality crises, mortality estimates, population balance

Uncovering what matters: Family life-course aspects and personal wealth in late working age
Volume 52 - Article 22    | Keywords: family dynamics, feature selection, life course, social stratification, wealth

The use of mobile phone surveys for rapid mortality monitoring: A national study in Burkina Faso
Volume 52 - Article 16    | Keywords: age-specific mortality patterns, data quality, Demographic Health Surveys, direct estimation, health and security crises, low-and-middle-income countries, mobile phones, mortality, sample selection, surveys, under-five mortality

Interrogating the quality and completion of mortality mobile phone interviews conducted in Malawi during COVID-19: An examination of interviewer–respondent interactions
Volume 51 - Article 46    | Keywords: audio-recording, LMICs, Malawi, mobile phone survey, mortality, RaMMPS