In the US, the gap between Black and White Homeownership is widening with each generation [OC]MidnightMoon1331 t1_j9qwmqw wrote
I wonder what cause The Greatest Generation such a delay in homeownership. Wars?
Apartment_List OP t1_j9qxjcd wrote
Their return from WWII coincided with a handful of social changes that encouraged homeownership: massive suburban housing construction (see: Levittown), government-sponsored VA mortgages, and a whole lot of couples having children.
studmuffffffin t1_j9rriho wrote
Wouldn't the data show the opposite then? It's showing very low home ownership in that generation.
Cptof_THEObvious t1_j9ttu3p wrote
It seems to imply moreso that they got a late start. Great Depression before the war, so not great ownership then. The war happens, their wives join the work force, the ones who come back get GI bill and other benefits on top, and suddenly they can afford some houses. By retirement age, they've pretty much caught up in ownership, aided by the start of a boom in housing development (the effect of the fully developed boom can be seen in the extremely high rates in Boomers).
studmuffffffin t1_j9tumav wrote
The slope is still lower than the other generations slightly. It takes 13-15 years from age 20-35 to get from 10% to 60% for the other generations. It takes 22 years from age 25-42 the boomers to get from 10% to 60%.
I don't think OP explanation is good enough. Even with a late start, it takes longer to get there.
DeadFIL t1_j9vktsz wrote
Those changes stuck around. When people 20-30 were coming back from the war, some of those changes started. They didn't get back and suddenly millions of suburban houses poofed into existence the same day.
MidnightMoon1331 t1_j9r0a98 wrote
I used to live in Levittown! They also outlawed blacks from buying in there.
So I guess that generation springboarded Americans to buy more houses?
pookiedookie232 t1_j9qxjrj wrote
Great depression followed by a war followed by a huge increase in people's mobility (including lots of veterans using their GI Bill post WW2)
Just my guess, lol
lostcauz707 t1_j9r9tpr wrote
There was a housing act that created redlining that basically was enabled as soon as World war I was done. It was socialism to buy houses, but of course, it was also during a time of extremely overt racism.
Bulbchanger5000 t1_j9s3bvk wrote
My AP US history teacher in HS was an early boomer whose dad was a WWII vet. He said that his family lived in apartments when he was young because there was a big delay in getting all the housing funded by the GI bill built. I think a part of what encouraged the standardized housing neighborhoods like Levittown in the first place was that they needed to speed up production for all the demand generated from GIs that had come home.
ShrugOfATLAS t1_j9uhp59 wrote
After WWII black soldiers were denied the G.I. Bill which aided in the the generational wage gap
genesiss23 t1_j9vbcem wrote
There were relatively few housing starts in the 1930s and practically none during ww2. By the end of ww2, there was a massive shortage. My paternal grandparents returned home during ww2. It took them mo the to find a separate apartment which they wanted because my father was born.
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