Abstract/Summary

The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequently increased time spent at home signified the importance of understanding on the link between housing and mental health. This paper examines how housing qualities affect depression and suicide ideation for each age group (i.e. young adults, middle-aged and older adults) and gender. With South Korea population-based panel data, fixed-effect models and a partial least squares structural equation model were used. A functional problem was a major risk factor for depression in women, whereas a structural problem was a key risk factor for men’s depression. For older adults, living in basement and vulnerability to natural disaster were detrimental to mental health. Functional problems increased the likelihood of suicide ideation in the middle-aged. The mechanisms of the housing qualities-mental health nexus were varied by age and gender. This paper proposed policy suggestions including a tailored housing policy and provision, a housing rating system for health and a support system for noise control.