Is housing becoming more expensive? Trends in housing cost burden over the life course since the 1990s

This project, funded by the Hans Böckler Foundation, uses data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and longitudinal analytical methods to investigate which life stages are associated with a higher (or excessive) housing cost burden, and whether there are groups that experience a higher financial burden from housing costs during specific life stages or even throughout their entire lives. Furthermore, the analyses are intended to cover different historical periods. This will enable an examination of whether new high-risk life stages have emerged over time and how the risks associated with housing cost burden are distributed across different social, regional and socio-economic groups, depending on the life stage.

Project Publications

• Romeu Gordo, L., Lozano Alcántara, A., Ehrlich, U., Platt, O., & Kelle, N. (2026). Wohnkostenbelastung im Lebensverlauf. Ungleichheiten nach sozialer und räumlicher Lage. WSI-Mitteilungen, 79(2), 168–178. https://doi.org/10.5771/0342-300X-2026-2-168

Related Publications

• Bünning, M., Ehrlich, U., Lozano Alcántara, A., Nowossadeck, S., Romeu Gordo, L., & Spuling, S. M. (2024). Wie gut sind wir aufs Alter vorbereitet? In: Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis), Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB), Bundesinstitut für Bevölkerungsforschung (BiB) (Hrsg.): Sozialbericht 2024. Ein Datenreport für Deutschland (S.96–101). Bonn: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung. 
• Lozano Alcántara, A., Romeu Gordo, L., Engstler, H., & Vogel, C. (2023). The retirement impact on housing cost burden: Are homeowners better off than tenants after retirement? Ageing & Society. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X23000119
• Nowossadeck, S., Romeu Gordo, L., & Lozano Alcántara, A. (2023). Mobility restriction and barrier-reduced housing among people aged 65 or older in Germany: Do those who need it live in barrier-reduced residences? Frontiers in Public Health, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1098005
• Fuchs, J., Nowossadeck, S., & Nowossadeck, E. (2022). Wohnen und Gesundheit im Alter aus epidemiologischer Sicht. In A. Teti, E. Nowossadeck, J. Fuchs, & H. Künemund (Eds.), Wohnen und Gesundheit im Alter (pp. 31-53). Springer VS. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-34386-6
• Lozano Alcántara, A., Engstler, H., Romeu Gordo, L., & Vogel, C. (2022). Der Einfluss von Verwitwung auf die Wohnkostenbelastung im Alter. Deutsche Rentenversicherung, 77(2), 162–191.
• Vogel, C., Lozano Alcántara, A., & Romeu Gordo, L. (2022). Steigende Wohnkosten im Alter – (k)ein Problem? In A. Teti, E. Nowossadeck, J. Fuchs, & H. Künemund (Eds.), Wohnen und Gesundheit im Alter (Vechtaer Beiträge zur Gerontologie). Springer VS. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-34386-6_16
• Hoffmann, E., Lozano Alcántara, A., & Romeu Gordo, L. (2021). »My home is my castle«: Verbundenheit mit der eigenen Wohnung im Alter. In Statistisches Bundesamt, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, & Bundesinstitut für Bevölkerungsforschung (Eds.), Datenreport 2021. Ein Sozialbericht für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Reihe Zeitbilder, Chapter 2.6, pp. 88–93). Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung.
• Lozano Alcántara, A., & Vogel, C. (2021). Rising housing costs and income poverty among the elderly in Germany. Housing Studies. doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2021.1935759
• Romeu Gordo, L., & Lozano Alcántara, A. (2020). Measuring housing costs and housing affordability using SOEP: An example applied to older households. SOEPpapers, No. 1111. Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW Berlin).
• Romeu Gordo, L., Grabka, M. M., Lozano Alcántara, A., Engstler, H., & Vogel, C. (2019). Immer mehr ältere Haushalte sind von steigenden Wohnkosten schwer belastet. DIW Wochenbericht, 86(27), 468–476.
• https://doi.org/10.18723/diw_wb:2019-27-1

Presentations

• 8 July 2026 – Dynamics of Housing Cost Burden Following (Critical) Later-Life Events in Germany. Presentation at the 23rd IAGG World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
• 8 July 2026 – Housing Cost Burden in the Post-retirement Phase – An Intersectional Perspective. Presentation at the 23rd IAGG World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
• 22 June 2026 – Housing Cost Burden over the Life Course: An Intersectional Perspective. Presentation at the 6th Workshop on Rent Control and Other Housing Policies, Stockholm, Sweden.
• 16 June 2026 – Housing Cost Burden over the Life Course and the Dynamics of Housing Cost Burden Following (Critical) Life Events. Presentation at the workshop 'Housing Cost Burden over the Life Course: Empirical Findings and Policy Implications', Berlin, Germany.
• 22 May 2026 – Housing Cost Burden over the Life Course: An Intersectional Perspective. Presentation at the RC28 Spring Meeting 2026: Addressing Social Inequalities in the Global North and South, Seville, Spain.
• 20 May 2026 – Dynamics of Housing Cost Burden Following (Critical) Life-course Events in Germany. Presentation at the RC28 Spring Meeting 2026: Addressing Social Inequalities in the Global North and South, Seville, Spain.
• 3 November 2025 – Expensive Housing? The Development of Housing Cost Burden over the Life Course. Presentation at the Affordable Housing! Housing Policy Conference, organized by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in cooperation with the Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Berlin, Germany.
• 10 October 2025 – Housing Cost Burden over the Life Course and the Dynamics of Housing Cost Burden Following Critical Life Events. Presentation at the DIFIS Issue Network Conference 'Housing and Social Policy', 'Housing as a Social Issue: What Answers Does the Welfare State Provide?', Bremen, Germany.
• 24 September 2025 – Dynamics of Housing Cost Burden Following (Critical) Life-course Events in Germany. Presentation at the Ad Hoc Symposium 'Housing Crisis as a Driver of Social Inequality and Conflict', 42nd Congress of the German Sociological Association (DGS), Duisburg, Germany.
• 24 September 2025 – Expensive Housing? Housing Cost Burden over the Life Course: Inequalities by Social and Spatial Position. Presentation at the Ad Hoc Symposium 'Housing Crisis as a Driver of Social Inequality and Conflict', 42nd Congress of the German Sociological Association (DGS), Duisburg, Germany.

Duration: November 2024 to March 2027