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Ethnic and gender discrimination in the private rental housing market in Finland: A field experiment.

ABSTRACT: Ethnic and gender discrimination in a variety of markets has been documented in several populations. We conducted an online field experiment to examine ethnic and gender discrimination in the private rental housing market in Finland. We sent 1459 inquiries regarding 800 apartments. We compared responses to standardized apartment inquiries including fictive Arabic-sounding, Finnish-sounding or Swedish-sounding female or male names. We found evidence of discrimination against Arabic-sounding names and male names. Inquiries including Arabic-sounding male names had the lowest probability of receiving a response, receiving a response to about 16% of the inquiries made, while Finnish-sounding female names received a response to 42% of the inquires. We did not find any evidence of the landlord's gender being associated with the discrimination pattern. The findings suggest that both ethnic and gender discrimination occur in the private rental housing market in Finland.

SUBMITTER: Oblom A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5576692 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Ethnic and gender discrimination in the private rental housing market in Finland: A field experiment.

Öblom Annamaria A Antfolk Jan J

PloS one 20170830 8

Ethnic and gender discrimination in a variety of markets has been documented in several populations. We conducted an online field experiment to examine ethnic and gender discrimination in the private rental housing market in Finland. We sent 1459 inquiries regarding 800 apartments. We compared responses to standardized apartment inquiries including fictive Arabic-sounding, Finnish-sounding or Swedish-sounding female or male names. We found evidence of discrimination against Arabic-sounding names ...[more]

PMID: 28854277

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Project description:ObjectivesTo assess primary impact of selective Licensing (SL), an area-based intervention in the private rented housing market, on individual self-reported anxiety and neighbourhood mental health (MHI-Mental Healthcare Index) and secondary impacts on antisocial behaviour (ASB), population turnover and self-reported well-being.DesignDifference-in-difference (DiD) was used to evaluate effects of SL schemes initiated 2012-2018. 921 intervention areas (lower super output areas) were matched 3:1 using propensity scores derived from sociodemographic and housing variables (N=3.684 including controls). Average treatment effect on treated (ATT) was calculated for multiple time period DiD in area-level analyses. Canonical DiD was used for individual-level analysis by year of treatment initiation while adjusting for age, sex, native birth and occupational class.SettingIntervention neighbourhoods and control areas in Greater London, UK, 2011-2019.ParticipantsWe sampled 4474 respondents renting privately in intervention areas (N=17 347 including controls) in Annual Population Survey and obtained area-level MHI population data.InterventionsPrivate landlords in SL areas must obtain a licence from the local authority, allow inspection and maintain minimum housing standards.ResultsATT after 5 years was significantly lower for MHI (-7.5%, 95% CI -5.6% to -8.8%) than controls. Antidepressant treatment days per population reduced by -5.4% (95% CI -3.7% to -7.3), mental health benefit receipt by -9.6% (95% CI -14% to -5.5%) and proportion with depression by -12% (95% CI -7.7% to -16.3%). ASB reduced by -15% (95% CI -21% to -8.2%). Population turnover increased by 26.5% (95% CI 22.1% to 30.8%). Sensitivity analysis suggests overlap with effects of London 2012 Olympic regeneration. No clear patterns were observed for self-reported anxiety.ConclusionsWe found associations between SL and reductions in area-based mental healthcare outcomes and ASB, while population turnover increased. A national evaluation of SL is feasible and necessary.

Project description:IntroductionThe UK private rental housing market has poorer quality housing compared with other sectors and is subjected to calls for better regulation. Poor quality housing poses risks to mental and physical health, and housing improvement can potentially benefit health and well-being. Local authorities have powers to implement selective licencing (SL) schemes in specific localities. Such schemes involve landlord registration, payment of licence fees, local authority inspection and requirements that landlords conduct any necessary renovation works to ensure housing standards are met. We aim to evaluate SL in Greater London and to test the feasibility of a national evaluation.Methods and analysisWe will measure individual-level and area-level impacts of SL in Greater London between 2011 and 2019. A difference-in-differences approach with propensity score-matched controls will be used. We propose to exploit data from the Annual Population Survey (APS) and health and social benefit registers to measure mental health and well-being at individual (self-reported anxiety) and area (Small Area Mental Health Index) level. We estimate 633 APS participants in our intervention groups compared with 1899 participants in control areas (1:3 ratio of intervention to control). Secondary outcomes will be self-reported well-being and residential stability at the individual level and incidence of police-recorded antisocial behaviour calls and population turnover at the area level. The study size of the area-level analyses will be 3684 lower layer super output areas (including controls). Qualitative semistructured interviews with lead implementers in several London boroughs will produce insights into variations and commonalities between schemes.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval was obtained from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine's Ethics Committee (reference number 26481) and London Borough of Hackney. All interviewees will be asked for informed written consent. Study findings will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Dataset Information

Ethnic and gender discrimination in the private rental housing market in Finland: A field experiment.

Publications

Ethnic and gender discrimination in the private rental housing market in Finland: A field experiment.

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