Housing Deprivation Among Polish Households: Prevalence and Associated Factors

Abstract

Housing deprivation is a multidimensional concept that can be measured using various indicators. This study focuses on severe housing deprivation and its components – overcrowding and housing conditions problems. Severe housing deprivation means the failure to meet basic housing needs. Eurostat defines it as the simultaneous occurrence of overcrowding and housing conditions problems. All analyzed indicators of housing deprivation are based on European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EUSILC) 2019 survey data. The study covers households in Poland – a country facing serious problems of housing deprivation. In fact, three dimensions of housing deprivation are examined: experiencing only housing conditions problems, experiencing only overcrowding, and being severely housing deprived. The study aims to investigate the prevalence of three-dimensional housing deprivation and reveal which socioeconomic features of the household are associated with the analyzed phenomenon. To achieve these purposes, the multinomial logit model was used to assess the average marginal effects for explanatory variables. It was found that the significant factors associated with housing deprivation are tenure status, dwelling type, household income, average age of household members, their level of educational achievement, presence of disabled and unemployed people, and household type.