Housing quality and school outcomes in England: a nationally representative linked cohort study

One in seven households in England live in accommodation not meeting housing quality standards. Low-quality housing is linked to adverse child health, but less is known about the relationship with educational outcomes. This study evaluated the relationship between housing quality, school absences and educational attainment.

Data were drawn from the Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative cohort of children born in 2000/2002. Housing quality at age 7 years was computed from six indicators: accommodation type, floor level, access to a garden, damp, heating and overcrowding. Percentage of missed school sessions and standardised test scores in Maths and English at age 7, 11 and 16 were linked from the National Pupil Database. Confounder-adjusted linear regressions with survey weights were fitted.

Approximately 16% of children lived in lower quality housing (ie, disadvantage in ≥2 conditions); after confounder adjustment, these children had 0.74% (or 1.4 days) more absences per year than those living in higher quality housing (n=7272, 95% CI 0.34% to 1.13%). Damp, overcrowding and accommodation type were the strongest predictors of absence. Test scores in Maths and English across compulsory schooling were between 0.07 and 0.13 SD lower for children living in lower versus higher quality housing (n=6741), mainly driven by overcrowding and lack of central heating.

Children living in homes with lower quality housing conditions missed 15.5 days more of school throughout compulsory schooling and performed worse on national tests than those in higher quality housing. Targeting specific housing conditions, such as damp and overcrowding, could be beneficial for children's school outcomes.