Reports of self-rated health by citizenship and homeownership, United States 2000-2010.
Citizenship facilitates home ownership, which promotes access to additional resources and structures social context, factors that improve the health of individuals and communities. The objective of this study was to examine whether citizenship moderated the association between homeownership and self-rated health. We used multivariate logistic regression models and propensity score matching techniques to examine this association using pooled years 2000-2010 of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data linked with the National Health Interview Survey to examine U.S. adults aged 18 and older (N=170,429). Rates of fair/poor health among homeowners vs. non-homeowners were comparable for foreign-born non-citizens. However, native- and foreign-born citizen non-homeowners showed significantly higher rates of reporting fair/poor health, with native-born citizens having the highest rates of poor health. While homeownership is protective for self-rated health, not meeting the "American Dream" of home ownership may be embodied more in the health of native-born citizens as "failure" and translate into poorer self-rated health. However, the economic privileges of homeownership and its association with better self-rated health are limited to citizens. Non-citizens may be disadvantaged despite socioeconomic position, particularly wealth as considered by homeownership, placing citizenship at the forefront as the most proximate and important burden besides socioeconomic status that needs further investigation as a fundamental health determinant.
Department of Health Policy and Administration, Pennsylvania State University, 601D Ford Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA. Electronic address: pym1@psu.edu.
Patricia Y
PY
Miranda
Population Studies Center, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA. Electronic address: reyesam@umich.edu.
Adriana
A
Reyes
George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Institute for Public Health, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1196, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA. Electronic address: dhudson@brownschool.wustl.edu.
Darrell
D
Hudson
Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 800717, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA. Electronic address: ayao@virginia.edu.
Nengliang
N
Yao
Department of Health Policy and Administration, Pennsylvania State University, 501A Ford Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA. Electronic address: wkb10@psu.edu.
William K
WK
Bleser
Department of Biobehavioral Health, Pennsylvania State University, 125 Biobehavioral Health Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA. Electronic address: sas84@psu.edu.
S A
SA
Snipes
Department of Health Policy and Administration, Pennsylvania State University, 601A Ford Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA. Electronic address: rzb10@psu.edu.
Rhonda
R
BeLue
D000328:Adult; D059026:Diagnostic Self Evaluation; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010067:Ownership; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
Citizenship; Fundamental causes of health; Health disparities; Homeownership; Immigration; Self-rated health; United States