Research on discrimination in the rental housing market (R-11508)

Diversity is of great value but also presents challenges at the level of urban policy and in the individual context. Therefore, cities and municipalities often pursue a diversity policy based on the principles of equal opportunities and inclusion. However, in 2019, Unia registered no less than 8478 reports of suspected acts of discrimination, hate speech and hate crime. 27,4% of the incidents were related to goods and services, the category that includes housing. Hence, Unia shows that discrimination in the housing sector may occur as frequently as in the context of employment (28% of the total number of files). 35.9% of the incidents were linked to racial discrimination grounds, in 12.7% of the incidents religious belief is said to be at the core of the incident. However, a complete, correct picture of the phenomenon is lacking. This research, therefore, focuses on the prevalence of ethnic and income discrimination in the rental housing market and finding explanations by analyzing statistical and preference discrimination.

Keywords:Etnic discrimination, income discrimination, rental housing market

Disciplines:Health, education and welfare economics, Law and economics