i didn't read the whole paper but so far i gather that EU countries with higher home ownership have lower wealth inequality.
the causality appears to be that the need to save money to buy a home in those countries drives people to accumulate more wealth, thus lowering the wealth difference.
the real question now is how does that wealth actually affect the standard of living?
i posit that in countries like austria and germany everyone regardless of their wealth is permitted a high standard of living, in other words, being poor does not matter as much.
also, at least in germany, homeownership is actively discouraged because you have to sell your home if you want to get financial support from the government.
it would also be interesting to contrast this to the US which also has a high wealth inequality, but higher home ownership
TL;DR:
i didn't read the whole paper but so far i gather that EU countries with higher home ownership have lower wealth inequality.
the causality appears to be that the need to save money to buy a home in those countries drives people to accumulate more wealth, thus lowering the wealth difference.
the real question now is how does that wealth actually affect the standard of living?
i posit that in countries like austria and germany everyone regardless of their wealth is permitted a high standard of living, in other words, being poor does not matter as much.
also, at least in germany, homeownership is actively discouraged because you have to sell your home if you want to get financial support from the government.
it would also be interesting to contrast this to the US which also has a high wealth inequality, but higher home ownership