Who Loses: An examination of losses in housing net worth, non-housing assets, and total savings from 2007 to 2008 among American families

Abstract

This study models the loss in non-housing assets, increase in non-housing liabilities, and net change in housing value across people by education, ethnic, and occupational categories in the 2007-2008 collapse of Wall Street financial markets. Hypotheses of plausible loci of loss include the usual social categories. Findings do not confirm all of the common presuppositions—managerial class workers have among the largest losses, retirees somewhat limited losses, and losses by educational group decline with advancing education, with the possible exception of Ph.D. holders. The group which had the most severe losses in all asset categories was the armed forces. The magnitude of the suggested effects would indicate that additional policy attention should be targeted on military family outcomes under economic stress.housing net worth; non-household liabilities; non-household assets; occupational group; education level;