Reports of self-rated health by citizenship and homeownership, United States 2000-2010

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Citizenship; Fundamental causes of health; Health disparities; Homeownership; Immigration; Self-rated health; United States.