Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures and tables
- Notes about the authors
- Acknowledgements
- Preface
- one Housing markets and policy in the 21st century
- two Housing over the life course: housing histories, careers, pathways and transitions
- three Housing transitions and housing policy: international context and policy transfer
- four The housing transitions of younger adults
- five Housing in mid life: consolidation, opportunity and risk
- six Housing transitions in later life
- seven Housing and disability: a 21st-century phenomenon
- eight Housing transitions, economic restructuring and the marginalised
- nine Conclusion: negotiating the housing market over the next decades
- References
- Index
five - Housing in mid life: consolidation, opportunity and risk
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 September 2022
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures and tables
- Notes about the authors
- Acknowledgements
- Preface
- one Housing markets and policy in the 21st century
- two Housing over the life course: housing histories, careers, pathways and transitions
- three Housing transitions and housing policy: international context and policy transfer
- four The housing transitions of younger adults
- five Housing in mid life: consolidation, opportunity and risk
- six Housing transitions in later life
- seven Housing and disability: a 21st-century phenomenon
- eight Housing transitions, economic restructuring and the marginalised
- nine Conclusion: negotiating the housing market over the next decades
- References
- Index
Summary
In the traditional representation of a housing career a discussion of mid-life housing transitions would almost seem unwarranted. Mid life has conventionally been seen as a period of consolidation and stability in the housing of individuals and households. In the past, at this stage of life, traditional patterns of behaviour, stable employment careers, and the demands of childrearing contributed to limited movements within the housing market. The middle years of life have been associated with the gradual transition from home purchase to outright ownership, accompanied by some limited upward movement through the housing market to better accommodate the needs of the family. Mid life in this representation of the relationship between housing and the life course is seen as the culmination of a household's housing aspirations and needs, where many households maximise their consumption of housing.
There is relatively little known about the housing position of persons in the middle years of their life, as the apparent stability of these households has not made them an attractive subject for research. Over the last few decades, however, the life course has become much more complex, differentiated and de-standardised as a result of economic growth, affluence, more mobile labour markets and in some households, growing instability. These changes have eroded traditional conceptions of stability in housing in mid life and while some households go through a period of quiescence relative to the housing market, a growing minority do not. Events and changes in the family life course have substantially reshaped mid-life housing transitions, resulting in widening differentials in the housing trajectories. Some households have taken advantage of their opportunities to accrue considerable wealth while others have experienced a less favourable life course that has interrupted, or significantly altered, their housing aspirations.
Family and the consumption of housing
Marriage and the birth of children have conventionally been seen as pivotal markers of the move from rental accommodation to home purchase (Neutze and Kendig, 1991). While societal change has meant that marriage per se and the arrival of the first child are not as universally important in the 21st century as previously, relationship formation and the birth of children remain critical to shaping transitions.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Housing Transitions through the Life CourseAspirations, Needs and Policy, pp. 75 - 92Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2011