Housing as a piece in the old-age puzzle : the role of housing equity in old-age security in eight countries

Elsinga, Marja (author), Mandič, Srna (author)

Many housing and welfare researchers in the last few decades have dealt with the so-called trade-off debate concerning the trade-off between welfare and home ownership. Countries with a high home ownership rate have lower welfare arrangements. The debate is about the causality of this statistical relationship; is welfare low because the home ownership rate is high or is it the other way around. This issue focuses on households' perceptions and how households find a balance between government, the market and the family in their provisions for old age concerning pension income and care. So far, little is known about how households perceive housing equity and to what extent they see it as a form of security or income source in old age in this period of facing the consequences of the financial crisis and when pension and care systems are under pressure. This contribution presents the results of interviews with 240 households in eight different countries. The aim is to contribute to this trade-off discussion by clarifying how households think and behave and by examining the extent to which housing equity plays a role in old-age strategies. Clearly the results show that collective arrangements will become less important and housing equity will most probably become a more important piece in the old-age-security puzzle.

• Language: English
• Work type: Not categorized
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Year: 2010
• Number of pages: Str. 940-958
• Numbering: Letn. 47, št. 5
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-23146
• UDC: 316.334.54-053.88
• ISSN on article: 0040-3598
• COBISS.SI-ID: 29737309
• Publication date in RUL: 11.07.2014

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Teorija in praksa : revija za družbena vprašanja
• Shortened title: Teor. praksa
• Publisher: Fakulteta za družbene vede
• ISSN: 0040-3598
• COBISS.SI-ID: 763652

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian

Abstract

Mnogi analitiki stanovanja in blaginje zadnja desetletja sodelujejo v razpravi o ugodnostih, ki jih imajo posamezniki in družbe pri blaginji in pri lastniškem stanovanju ter o medsebojni zamenljivosti teh ugodnosti (trade-off between welfare and home ownership). Države z visoko stopnjo lastniških stanovanj imajo slabše razvit sistem blaginje. Razprava pa poteka o vzročni zvezi v tem statističnem razmerju; je sistem blaginje slabše razvit zaradi visoke stopnje lastniških stanovanj ali pa je obratno? Pričujoča številka revije se osredotoča na to, kako problem dojemajo gospodinjstva in kako se prisvoji skrbi za starostno pokojnino in oskrbo poslužujejo rešitev, ki jih nudijo država, trg in družina. Za zdaj je malo znanega o tem, kako gospodinjstva gledajo na stanovanjsko premoženje in v kolikšni meri ga vidijo kot obliko varnosti ali vir prihodka v starosti v času, ko se spopadamo s posledicami finančne krize in sta pokojninski sistem in sistem dolgotrajne oskrbe pod pritiski. Članek predstavlja rezultate razgovorov s člani 240 gospodinjstev v osmih državah. Njegov namen je prispevati k tej razpravi in razjasniti, kako o tem razmišljajo in se vedejo člani gospodinjstev; želi tudi raziskati, kolikšno vlogo ima pri strategijah načrtovanja za starost stanovanjsko premoženje. Rezultati kažejo, da se bo pomen kolektivnega urejanja v bodoče zmanjšal ter da bo stanovanjsko premoženje najverjetneje postalo pomembnejši delček v sestavljanki socialne varnosti v starosti.