Young people's family relations and housing opportunities within the context of precarious socio-economic conditions

This paper explores the role contemporary family relations play in reorganizing housing circumstances surrounding younger generations in the new era of socio-economic precariousness. In many developed countries, during the... [ view full abstract ]

This paper explores the role contemporary family relations play in reorganizing housing circumstances surrounding younger generations in the new era of socio-economic precariousness. In many developed countries, during the period of high-speed economic development, young people were generally expected to start leading a conventional adult life-course that progresses from living in the parents’ home to securing an independent dwelling, from being single to getting married, and from tenancy to home ownership. This was supported by increasing real incomes and generous government subsidies relating to housing. In recent decades, however, in context of greater economic insecurity and deeper neo-liberalization of social and housing policies, young people have faced greater difficulties in acquiring adequate and affordable independent housing. This has brought about the re-ascendance of family relations as a key determinant in young people’s housing pathways. There is an increase in unmarried adults living longer in parents’ homes, while an increasing number of young couples receive financial support from their parents in purchasing housing. In response to economic downturns and declines in state welfare, whether or not young individuals can access family resources is now becoming more definitive in differentiating their fortunes pertaining to housing. In this paper, we focus on cross-national comparative explorations of how and to what extent to which family relations determine young people’s housing opportunities. The paper begins with examining the theoretical framework of family relations in terms of understanding young people’s housing conditions. This is followed by the introduction of the analytical framework investigating individual-family relations with particular emphasis on the importance of highlighting both parent-child vertical relations and husband-wife horizontal relations within families. This framework is used in our comparative analyses of divergence in the housing pathways of younger generations. Overall, the paper demonstrates the increased importance of families in reshaping the contour of social inequalities in regard to young people’s housing opportunities.