A home of one\u27s own: Overcoming gender and familial status barriers to homeownership

Homeownership is widely considered to be of benefit both to the individual household and to society at large. Yet a number of obstacles stand in the way of successful homeownership for many women. Chief among them are familial status discrimination in mortgage lending and lack of sufficient income. This dissertation analyzes mortgage lending data from Boston and finds that women, more than men, when applying for mortgages are disadvantaged by having children. Furthermore, white working mothers are disadvantaged more than their stay-at-home counterparts, while black or Hispanic stay-at-home mothers are disadvantaged more than their working counterparts. Alternative types of tenure such as community land trusts and limited equity cooperatives are discussed as viable options for women who are underserved by conventional markets. A survey of members of eighteen such groups provides support for this conclusion