Young People and Housing: A challenge for individuals and the welfare state

Abstract

With the term “housing” we associate such diverse issues as address and telephone, access and infrastructure, space for individual expression, social relations, cooking, eating, drinking and sleeping, the kitchen area, the hot shower, the sofa in the corner, consumption of media etc. In terms of sociology we can define modern housing arrangements within four dimensions (cf. Häußermann/Siebel 1996, p. 13 et seq.):

• a) The functional meaning of housing is derived from the division between home and work. The home is the place for relaxation, consumption, communication and stylisation.

• b) In social terms the home is the place for the partner and one’s intimate relations. The shared household is both a legal and economic bond.

• c) Emotionally the home is the place for our private needs, for physicality and intimacy, the counterweight to work and the public sphere.

• d) In legal and economic terms the availability of housing is determined by housing policy, legal regulation and market processes.