Origins of security and insecurity: the interplay of housing systems with jobs, household structures, finance and social security
Client: EC (FP6-CITIZENS)
Project coordinator: University of Birmingham
Duration: April 2004 – December 2006
The starting points of this project was the restructuring of social rights across Europe, shifting the the meaning of citizenship. Housing has become an important site in which European households experience this restructuring. One consequence is the creation of new patterns of security and insecurity.
These patterns are themselves the result of the complex interplay of a number of elements including systems of housing provision with labour markets and job opportunities, the opportunities to access finance and systems of social support, combined with the strategies adopted by individuals. From the point of view of member states, or even the EU as a whole, outcomes that favour individuals do not necessarily favour society at large.
The project focused on security and insecurity within home ownership, and their wider implications. It’s two main objectives were to analyse the factors impacting upon individual households and their positions as home owners. Secondly, it established how households perceive the patterns of security and insecurity, advantage and disadvantage associated with different housing positions. It investigated how these perceptions mould personal (household) strategies with respect to housing, jobs, family size, education and pensions. Moreover, it assessed how these positions have provided households with material security and insecurity.
The project was built upon multilevel research in a range of European countries. It combined quantitative and qualitative analysis. The former used both macro (countrywide) and micro (household) data. Qualitative studies were based on household interviews. The identification of policy-relevant analysis and conclusions was emphatic throughout OSIS.
MRI was member of the OSIS consortium, contributing to both micro level research and macro level analysis, with a particular emphasis on processes in Central and Eastern European transition countries.