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Impacts of Homeownership and Residential Stability on Children’s Academic Performance in Hong Kong

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Abstract

While purchasing a home is usually made by the parents, the impact of homeownership on children, especially younger children who spend much more time in the home environment than other members of the family, should not be overlooked. In this paper, we assess the impact of both homeownership and residential stability by measuring how these factors affect children’s academic performance at school. Based on a three-stage six-model analytical framework, the analysis shows that homeownership has a positive impact on school performance of children. More interestingly, frequent moving is detrimental to school performance while parents’ higher educational background may compensate for the lack of homeownership in renter families. This paper presents a number of issues for consideration of long term land and housing policies including the importance of promoting homeownership through steady supply of residential land, as well as targeting public housing welfare to different household groups with different measures.

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Notes

  1. http://www.hkeaa.edu.hk/en/hkdse/.

  2. For example: http://monitor.icef.com/2014/05/demand-for-study-abroad-shifting-as-education-reforms-take-hold-in-hong-kong/; and http://yp.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/86777/putting-it-test.

  3. Source: http://www.jupas.edu.hk/en/j4/fact-figures/offer-statistics/statistics-on-main-round-offer-results; and  http://www.timeout.com.hk/big-smog/features/60578/hong-kongs-growing-shortage-of-university-places.html 

  4. Source: http://www.als.hku.hk/pdf/HKU130131.pdf.

  5. Reiterating the discussion above, since the dependent variable is ranking in the academic year which has a smaller numerical value for a better rank. An independent variable has a positive impact on ranking/academic performance if the coefficient is negative, and vice versa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Real Estate and Construction, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China

    Ling Hin Li

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  1. Ling Hin Li
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Correspondence to Ling Hin Li.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 11.

Table 11 District distribution of respondents in the sample
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Li, L.H. Impacts of Homeownership and Residential Stability on Children’s Academic Performance in Hong Kong. Soc Indic Res 126, 595–616 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-0915-8

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