This paper examines geographic mobility and housing downsizing at older ages in Britain and the USA. Americans downsize housing much more than the British largely because Americans are much more mobile. The principal reasons for greater mobility among older Americans are twofold: (1) greater spatial distribution of geographic distribution of amenities (such as warm weather) and housing costs; (2) greater institutional rigidities in subsidized British rental housing providing stronger incentives for British renters not to move. This relatively flat British housing consumption with age may have significant implications for the form and amount of consumption smoothing at older ages.
Authors
CPP Co-Director
James is Senior Research Fellow and Professor of Economics at Manchester, working on broad issues in the economics of retirement, savings and health.
CPP Co-Director
Richard is Co-Director of the Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy (CPP) and Senior Research Fellow at IFS.
Head of Data Services
Zoe is Head of Data Services. She joined the IFS in 1998 as a researcher and moved into Data Services in 2011.
James Smith
Journal article details
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Issue
- January 2012
Suggested citation
Banks, J et al. (2012). 'Housing Mobility and Downsizing at Older Ages in Britain and the USA' (2012)
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