Abstract

This study empirically assesses home ownership and household food security in urban areas. Using OLS regression, the authors examine the relationship between home ownership and the dependent variable, household food security. We analyzed 581,085 households from the 2019 and 2020 Indonesia Social Economic Survey (SUSENAS). The results show that urban households with their own houses have better food security than rent. Furthermore, the analysis results show that house ownership has a significant association with food security for both poor and non-poor households, although the association is much stronger in non-poor households compared to poor households. This finding implies a need policy to escalate the opportunities for home ownership for urban households in Indonesia. In addition, with these findings, we also suggest the need to consider increasing ownership of residential assets as an integral part of a policy to increase food security.