Babies, Bonds, and Buildings: Social reproduction in an era of rising income inequality

How has rising income inequality shaped class formation and identity among younger cohorts entering the labor and housing markets in the past 20 years? We argue that contrary to expectations in the welfare state that... [ view full abstract ]

How has rising income inequality shaped class formation and identity among younger cohorts entering the labor and housing markets in the past 20 years? We argue that contrary to expectations in the welfare state that individuation and owner occupation would continue to rise until most countries resembled north Europe, we see re-familialization and the emergence of more typically southern European housing patterns in much of the 25 to 35 year-old cohort in the rich OECD countries. This trend started before the 2008 crisis. A finer grained analysis of housing trajectories in the millennial cohort using Luxembourg Income and Luxembourg Wealth Study data shows eight distinct groups emerging, rather than a singular ‘generation rent.’ We assess the implications of the re-familialization trend for household formation and fertility trends.