Abstract
This chapter examines UK young adults’ housing transitions, particularly leaving the parental home, and explores the ways in which these may have been shaped by government social and housing policies. Housing remains an important welfare service in the UK, but is distinctive in the coexistence of a large and enduring private housing market (Malpass, 2004). Housing has arguably moved further away from the core welfare state as a result of the mass privatisation of council housing which began in the early 1980s and a lack of sufficient new social housing (Forrest and Murie, 1983; Malpass, 2004). Access to social housing is increasingly difficult for young, particularly single, adults (Anderson, 1999), who increasingly look to the private rented sector (PRS) for accommodation during the early phases of the life-course. The role of the welfare state has thus shifted from the provision of council housing to the subsidisation of private rents via welfare benefits (Murie, 2012).
This research is funded by ESRC Grants numbers RES-625-28-0001 and ES/K003453/1. The ESRC Centre for Population Change (CPC) is a joint initiative between the University of Southampton and a consortium of Scottish universities in partnership with ONS and GROS. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed in this chapter are entirely those of the authors and should not be attributed in any manner to ONS or GROS. The Labour Force Survey is conducted by the Office for National Statistics and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Understanding Society (UKHLS) is conducted by the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex. Access to all data is provided by the UK Data Service. Thanks are due to Vicki Boliver for helping source historical data on higher education enrolment rates.
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© 2014 Ann Berrington and Juliet Stone
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Berrington, A., Stone, J. (2014). Young Adults’ Transitions to Residential Independence in the UK: The Role of Social and Housing Policy. In: Antonucci, L., Hamilton, M., Roberts, S. (eds) Young People and Social Policy in Europe. Work and Welfare in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137370525_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137370525_11
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