"Discrimination against Parents in the Online Rental Housing Market"

• In Event: 40225 - Mechanisms of Inequality

Abstract

Discrimination against parents in the housing market has been prohibited since 1988. But today, it makes up the fourth most frequently cited form of discrimination among fair housing complaints (after disability, race, and sexual orientation or gender identity). Despite this, there has been remarkably little academic research to date to measure the prevalence of this form of discrimination, with most research on parents’ housing market experiences focused on single parent, female-headed households alone. Based on our analysis of data from a 40-city large-scale email correspondence audit study, we explore how housing market discrimination against parents varies by gender, race, age, and marital status. Our preliminary findings show clear evidence of discrimination against parents, with significant variation in the parenthood penalty depending on the housing searcher’s gender, age, race/ethnicity, and marital status. One such example of that variance is a “fatherhood bonus” experienced by Black single fathers on the rental market, which is especially stark in comparison to the “motherhood penalty” experienced by Black single mothers. We also find that an apartment’s unit price significantly moderates the discrimination experienced by parents, with parents experiencing greater discrimination at the higher end of the rental market. Forthcoming analyses will examine how neighborhood- and market-level characteristics may also moderate these relationships, and whether the quality of neighborhoods accessible to parents differ from those accessible to households without children.

Authors

• Allison Suppan Helmuth, University of North Texas

• Brielle Bryan, Rice University