%0 Report
        %A Verhaeghe, Pieter-Paul
%A Devos, Louise
%A Ghekiere, Abel
%A Baert, Stijn
%A Lippens, Louis
        %T The State of Rental Discrimination: A Meta-Analytical Comparison of Five Discrimination Grounds in the Housing Market
        %D 2026
        %8 2026 Jul
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 18788
        %U https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp18788
        %X This meta-analysis compares patterns of rental discrimination across five grounds: ethno-racial origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and social origin. We analyze 475 field experimental estimates from 31 countries, published between 2002 and 2024. In the random-effects pooled estimates, discrimination is substantial across all grounds, with the highest levels for ethno-racial origin, social origin, and disability, and smaller penalties for men and same-sex couples. For several grounds, the pooled effect attenuates toward no discrimination after correction for small-study publication bias. Marked heterogeneity exists, including a clear ethno-racial hierarchy with the strongest penalties for Arab, North African or Turkish applicants. Contrary to prior work, discrimination is higher in Europe than in North America for ethno-racial origin and sexual orientation. There is no consistent decline over time, except for social origin. Real estate agents discriminate less than private landlords, but only for ethno-racial origin. Mode-of-contact effects are mixed. Overall, discrimination appears persistent and context-dependent, calling for more targeted and effectively enforced policy interventions.
        %K meta-analysis
%K discrimination
%K housing
%K ethnic origin
%K gender
%K disability
%K social origin
%K sexual orientation