Partnership patterns and homeownership: a cross-country comparison of Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom

Figures & data

Table 1. Unweighted age and sex distributions for national samples.

	Age			Sex
Sample	Min	Mean	Max	Male (%)	Female (%)
Pairfam	26.0	33.8	40.0	43.5	56.5
NKPS	25.0	35.1	40.0	34.3	65.7
UoS	25.0	33.5	40.0	37.6	62.4

Note:

Figures are rounded.

Table 2. Frequencies of variables (unweighted) and relative share of homeowners.

	N	Homeowner (%)
Homeowner
Yes	6280
No	6156
Partner relationship
No partner, never married	1795	23.2
No partner, previously married	538	30.3
Partner, but living apart together	1109	28.9
Unmarried cohabiting with partner	2617	43.9
Married with partner	6377	66.3
Age
Homeowner mean age	35.0
Renter mean age	32.4
Gender
Female	7537	50.9
Male	4899	49.9
Children in household
Yes	8027	55.8
No	4409	40.9
Degree level education
Yes	5006	57.9
No	7430	45.5
Occupational class
Higher man/prof occupations	1727	68.8
Lower man/prof occupations	2667	60.5
Routine/manual occupations	5104	50.2
No occupation	2938	31.2
Settlement type
Urban area	9708	48.5
Rural area	2728	57.7
Country
Germany	4230	35.7
Netherlands	817	78.6
UK	7389	55.9
East Germany	852	27.1

Table 3. Percentage partner relationship status by children in household by country.

	Child(ren) in household
	Germany			Netherlands			UK
Partner relationship	Partner relationship %	With child(ren) %		Partner relationship %	With child(ren) %		Partner relationship %	With child(ren) %
	C %	3.0		C %	.8		C %	10.2
No partner, never married	15.9	R %	10.2	10.2	R %	4.6	16.8	R %	37.9
		C %	3.0		C %	.8		C %	10.2
No partner, previously married	3.5	R %	56.3	2.7	R %	27.2	3.7	R %	70.1
		C %	3.6		C %	1.3		C %	4.2
Partner, but living apart together	9.7	R %	19.1	8.2	R %	6.2	9.4	R %	39.5
		C %	3.4		C %	.9		C %	5.9
Unmarried cohabiting with partner	20.2	R %	34.6	29.1	R %	43.2	23.4	R %	56.7
		C %	12.9		C %	22.4		C %	20.7
Married with partner	50.7	R %	82.4	49.8	R %	83.9	46.7	R %	79.4
		C %	77.1		C %	74.6		C %	59.1

Notes:

R = row percentage, C = column percentage. Pairfam n = 4230; NKPS n = 817; UoS n = 7389, samples cover individuals aged 25–40, estimates are weighted to account for survey design and nonresponse. For those who are LAT, the household relates to those who live with the individual respondent and not the partner.

Table 4. The percentage of co-residential couples according to earner configuration and the percentage of homeownership by earner configuration.

Earner configuration	Germany		Netherlands		UK
	% of co-res couples	Homeowner %	% of co-res couples	Homeowner %	% of co-res couples	Homeowner %
Dual-earner	27.2	48.2	81.8	83.4	69.3	73.0
Single-earner	56.3	40.8	17.7	76.5	24.8	48.5
No earner	16.5	33.8	.6	90.2	5.9	10.2

Notes:

Pairfam n = 3072; NKPS = 660; UoS = 5262, samples cover individuals aged 25–40 who are in a co-residential partnership (married or unmarried) at the point of survey. Estimates are weighted to account for survey design and nonresponse.

Table 5. Binomial logistic regression: predicting the likelihood of homeownership.

Predictor	B	SE	95% CI	Odds ratio
(Intercept)	1.504	.096	1.317: 1.692
Age (centred at 34)	.101	.005	.092: .111	1.107
Gender (ref: female)
Male	−.106	.095	−.292: .081	.900
Degree level education (ref: no)
Yes	.255	.048	.161: .349	1.291
Occupational class (ref: lower man/prof occupation)
Higher man/prof occupation	.111	.106	−.096: .320	1.118
Routine/manual occupation	−.483	.076	−.632: −.335	.617
No occupation	−1.109	.081	−1.268: −.952	.330
Settlement type (ref: urban area)
Rural area	.408	.053	.305: .512	1.504
Children in household (ref: no)
Yes	−.356	.065	−.484: −.229	.700
Partner relationship (ref: married with partner)
No partner, never married	−1.801	.086	−1.971: −1.632	.165
No partner, previously married	−1.471	.128	−1.724: −1.221	.230
Partner, but living apart together	−1.429	.098	−1.622: −1.238	.240
Unmarried cohabiting with partner	−.715	.069	−.851: −.580	.489
Country (ref: UK)
Germany	−1.578	.113	−1.800: −1.356	.206
Netherlands	.320	.264	−.189: .848	1.377
East Germany (ref: no)
Yes	−.382	.099	−.576: −.189	.683
Partner relationship × country
No partner, never married: Germany	.144	.178	−.209: .488	1.154
No partner, previously married: Germany	−.316	.247	−.812: .158	.729
Partner, but living apart together: Germany	−.259	.203	−.667: .132	.771
Unmarried cohabiting with partner: Germany	−.323	.130	−.579: −.069	.724
No partner, never married: Netherlands	−.246	.344	−.928: .424	.782
No partner, previously married: Netherlands	−.682	.521	−1.722: .340	.506
Partner, but living apart together: Netherlands	−.225	.389	−.990: .537	.799
Unmarried cohabiting with partner: Netherlands	.341	.269	−.183: .872	1.406
Gender × occupational class
Male: Higher man/prof occupation	.038	.152	−.260: .335	1.039
Male: Routine/manual occupation	.122	.114	−.102: .347	1.130
Male: No occupation	−.636	.155	−.941: −.334	.530
Children in household × country
Yes: Germany	.845	.113	.624: 1.067	2.329
Yes: Netherlands	.775	.253	.276: 1.271	2.171

Notes:

n = 12 436 (pairfam n = 4230; NKPS n = 817; UoS n = 7389).

Figure 1. Predicted probability (95% C.I.) of homeownership for partner relationship status by country.

Note: These are marginal effects at the sample means.

Table 6. Separate country-specific regression models.

	East Germany		West Germany			Germany			Netherlands		UK
	B	SE	B		SE	B		SE	B	SE	B		SE
(Intercept)	−.439	.344	−.162		.158	−.162		.142	1.565	.325	1.583		.115
Age (centred at 34)	.138	.021	.132		.009	.132		.008	.106	.025	.087		.006
Gender (ref: female)
Male	−.311	.382	−.073	.162		−.089	.148		.354	.350	−.145	.137
Degree level education (ref: no)
Yes	−.096	.223	.185	.096		.152	.088		−.094	.274	.328	.059
Occupational class (ref: lower man/prof occupations)
Higher man/prof occupations	−.448	.542	−.175	.244		−.240	.221		.790	.405	.102	.134
Routine/manual occupations	−.348	.306	−.353	.144		−.336	.130		−.376	.287	−.622	.101
No occupation	−1.205	.367	−.396	.154		−.498	.141		−.838	.351	−1.431	.105
Settlement status (ref: urban area)
Rural area	.649	.183	.618	.094		.581	.082		.498	.248	.234	.071
Children in household (ref: No)
Yes	.260	.234	.275	.114		.231	.100		.437	.263	−.251	.067
Partner relationship (ref: married with partner)
No partner, never married	−1.722	.378	−1.677	.173		−1.734	.156		−2.097	.342	−1.808	.087
No partner, previously married	−.821	.418	−2.198	.253		−1.910	.212		−2.202	.506	−1.442	.130
Partner, but living apart together	−1.390	.368	−1.760	.207		−1.741	.179		−1.647	.381	−1.436	.099
Unmarried cohabiting with partner	−.744	.221	−1.051	.130		−1.048	.110		−.382	.263	−.734	.070
Gender × occupational class
Male: Higher man/prof occupations	.630	.697	.106	.320		.166	.288		−.537	.599	.077	.200
Male: Routine/manual occupations	.310	.455	.226	.204		.211	.185		−.179	.503	.092	.158
Male: No occupation	−.271	.652	−1.086	.342		−1.054	.298		.241	.678	−.517	.199

Notes:

East Germany n = 852; West Germany n = 3378; Germany n = 4230; Netherlands n = 817; UK n = 7389.

Table

	Child(ren) in household
Partner relationship	Partner relationship %	With child(ren) %
No partner, never married	15.3	R %	12.8
		C %	4.9
No partner, previously married	7.2	R %	21.1
		C %	3.9
Partner, but living apart together	6.2	R %	13.2
		C %	2.1
Unmarried cohabiting with partner	8.7	R %	32.0
		C %	7.1
Married with partner	62.5	R %	52.0
		C %	82.1

Table

Predictor	B	S.E.	95% C.I.	Odds ratio
(Intercept)	.918	.075	.772: 1.065
Age (centred at 34)	.096	.005	.086: .106	1.101
Gender (ref: female)
Male	−.024	.046	−.113: .065	.976
Degree level education (ref: no)
Yes	.605	.046	.515: .697	1.832
Settlement type (ref: urban area)
Rural area	.391	.057	.279: .503	1.479
Children in household (ref: no)
Yes	−.446	.062	−.567: −.325	.640
Partner relationship (ref: married with partner)
No partner, never married	−1.893	.084	−2.059: −1.730	.151
No partner, previously married	−1.529	.124	−1.775: −1.287	.217
Partner, but living apart together	−1.464	.095	−1.652: −1.278	.231
Unmarried cohabiting with partner	−.717	.067	−.849: −.586	.488
Country (ref: UK)
Germany	−1.534	.139	−1.806: −1.263	.216
Netherlands	.410	.180	.062: .766	1.507
East Germany (ref: no)
Yes	−.349	.129	−.605: −.098	.705
Partner relationship × country
No partner, never married: Germany	.156	.202	−.248: .545	1.169
No partner, previously married: Germany	−.341	.387	−1.159: .372	.711
Partner, but living apart together: Germany	−.180	.241	−.665: .281	.835
Unmarried cohabiting with partner: Germany	−.238	.176	−.588: .103	.788
No partner, never married: Netherlands	.081	.234	−.381: .537	1.084
No partner, previously married: Netherlands	−.138	.343	−.812: .534	.871
Partner, but living apart together: Netherlands	−.259	.282	−.815: .293	.772
Unmarried cohabiting with partner: Netherlands	.226	.184	−.134: .588	1.254
Children in household × country
Yes: Germany	.767	.139	.495: 1.041	2.154
Yes: Netherlands	.986	.176	.640: 1.331	2.680

Table

Predictor	B	S.E.	95% C.I.
(Intercept)	1.505	.096	1.319: 1.693
Age (centred at 34)	.101	.005	.092: .111
Gender (ref: Female)
Male	−.110	.095	−.296: .077
Degree level education (ref: No)
Yes	.255	.048	.161: .349
Occupational class (ref: Lower man/prof occupations)
Higher man/prof occupations	.111	.106	−.096: .320
Routine/manual occupations	−.485	.076	−.634: −.337
No occupation	−1.111	.081	−1.270: −.954
Settlement status (ref: Urban area)
Rural area	.409	.053	.306: .513
Children in household (ref: No)
Yes	−.356	.065	−.484: −.229
Partner relationship (ref: Married with partner)
No partner, never married	−1.801	.086	−1.971: −1.633
No partner, previously married	−1.471	.128	−1.724: −1.221
Partner, but living apart together	−1.429	.098	−1.622: −1.238
Unmarried cohabiting with partner	−.715	.069	−.851: −.580
Country (ref: UK)
East Germany	−2.011	.237	−2.482: −1.551
West Germany	−1.563	.122	−1.802: −1.325
Netherlands	.320	.264	−.189: .848
Partner relationship × Country
No partner, never married: East Germany	.072	.384	−.731: .787
No partner, previously married: East Germany	.811	.428	−.062: 1.630
Partner, but living apart together: East Germany	.094	.374	−.682: .795
Unmarried cohabiting with partner: East Germany	−.100	.225	−.546: .336
No partner, never married: West Germany	.160	.192	−.222: .531
No partner, previously married: West Germany	−.635	.283	−1.211: −.098
Partner, but living apart together: West Germany	−.354	.227	−.812: .081
Unmarried cohabiting with partner: West Germany	−.383	.146	−.672: −.098
No partner, never married: Netherlands	−.246	.345	−.928: .424
No partner, previously married: Netherlands	−.682	.521	−1.722: .340
Partner, but living apart together: Netherlands	−.225	.389	−.990: .537
Unmarried cohabiting with partner: Netherlands	.341	.269	−.183: .872
Gender × Occupational class
Male: Higher man/prof occupations	.043	.152	−.255: .340
Male: Routine/manual occupations	.125	.115	−.099: .350
Male: No occupation	−.630	.155	−.935: −.328
Children in household × country
Yes: East Germany	.759	.228	.314: 1.211
Yes: West Germany	.856	.123	.616: 1.097
Yes: Netherlands	.775	.253	.276: 1.270