Siblings, fairness and parental support for housing in the UK

Abstract

Financial support from parents has become critical to the capacity of many single young adults to attain and sustain independent housing in the United Kingdom. Utilising data from a qualitative study of early housing pathways, this paper applies Lüscher's theory of ambivalence in a context previously unexplored via this framework, analysing how participants talked about competing claims between siblings for finite parental resources in support of independent living. Most expressed faith in the assumed fairness of parental behaviours in providing support whilst often constructing themselves as 'more responsible' or 'more deserving' than their siblings. Whilst parental support was routinely made available regardless of recipients' current housing tenure, there was nonetheless a sense that support for owner occupation fell into a distinct category of assistance, reinforcing notions of tenure prejudice. Given ongoing dependency on family support, participants were largely resigned to these disparities, regarding them as integral to the ambivalent nature of inter-and intragenerational family relationships.

Family formation, parental background and young adults’ first entry into homeownership in Britain and Germany

“…The positive effect that parental owner-occupation has on children's transition to first-time homeownership is now well-documented across numerous countries and is probably a composite effect of wealth transmission, socialization and tenure acting as a proxy for unmeasured (dis)advantage (Mulder et al, 2015). Further work to unpack these mechanisms using innovative population level longitudinal modelling (Lersch & Luijkx, 2015) is now necessary, as are qualitative analyses of intergenerational practices of housing support that go beyond the middle class samples that have been the focus of most previous studies (Druta & Ronald, 2017;Heath, 2018). This will allow us to build up a richer picture of how parental background shapes housing careers and thus help design policies to support all young people enter and navigate housing systems.…”

“…Concerns have been voiced that macrotrends such as the declining availability of secure well-paid work, greater indebtedness (often to fund higher education), reduced public welfare provision, and enhanced problems of housing access and affordability are all making it harder for young people to muster the resources to become homeowners (Andrew, 2012;Dewilde et al, 2018;Lennartz et al, 2016;Lersch & Dewilde, 2015). This could make transitions into owner-occupation increasingly contingent on parental financial transfers or other downward intergenerational flows of economic and practical support (Heath, 2018;Mulder & Smits, 2013). Christophers (2018) argues that these practices reproduce inequality across the generations as access to homeownership becomes increasingly confined to children from more affluent backgrounds who have greater access to familial support (McKee, 2012).…”

Housing careers, intergenerational support and family relations

“…The second deals with variation within the intergenerational transmission of housing status as well as the outcomes in terms of wealth accumulation and economic inequalities (Coulter, 2016;Hubers et al, 2017;Köppe, 2017). The last group of articles draw primarily on qualitative data and address the meanings of intra-family transfers and how they shape intra-family relations in different contexts (Druta & Ronald, 2017b;Heath, 2017;Lennartz & Helbrecht, 2018). Our conclusions identify the salience of all these analyses in current social debates on housing, family and intergenerational equity.…”

Supported Home Ownership and Adult Independence in Milan: The Gilded Cage of Family Housing Gifts and Transfers

“…Help could also mean practical support for moving, decorating and furnishing as well as advice on the legal hurdles of home purchase. For many respondents, assistance with housing was not just about intergenerational continuity, but also reflected values of family solidarity, fairness and equity between siblings (Heath, 2017) and obligations to each other. In the following, Angela, a widow in her 80s (older generation), shared with us memories of the self-sacrifices (see Bahr and Bahr, 2001; Myers, 1983) endured when she and her husband sought to secure homes for each of their sons.…”