The Homeownership Attainment of LGB Immigrants: The Role of Social Relationships

• In Event: 3251 - Section on International Migration Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 8. Family Dynamics of Migration

Abstract

I use data from the 2008 and 2013 Canadian GSS to assess the extent to which group differences in socio-demographic traits, social networks, and neighborhood detachment produce differences in homeownership attainment by sexual orientation and nativity status. Gay and bisexual immigrants have lower odds of homeownership compared to the other sexual orientation-nativity status groups. The sole exception is that Canadian-born bisexuals have the lowest odds of homeownership, likely due to their younger age composition and poor economic resources. Differences in socio-demographic traits (e.g. age, marital status) can explain the lower odds of homeownership for gay immigrants compared to Canadian-born heterosexuals, but can only partially do so for bisexual immigrants. Differences in social networks partially explain the low homeownership rates for bisexual immigrants, but not for gay immigrants. Conversely, neighborhood detachment explains the homeownership differentials between LGB immigrants and Canadian-born heterosexuals. This is unsurprising as LGB immigrants have high neighborhood detachment, which is significantly associated with lower odds of homeownership.

Author

• Sagi Ramaj, University of Toronto