Housing wealth, income and financial wealth of older people in Britain

Abstract

This paper explores the housing wealth of older people in Britain in relation to their incomes and financial wealth. Family Expenditure Survey data for 1992/3 to 1993/4 are used to assess the extent to which housing wealth could alleviate income poverty in old age. A range of poverty and housing wealth thresholds are used. Although housing wealth increases with both income and financial wealth, the analysis suggests that there are non-negligible proportions of low income older people who could generate small supplements to their incomes by converting the wealth tied up in their homes into an income stream, but in few cases would this be sufficient to pay for long-term residential care for any length of time.