Comparative housing and welfare: Theorising the relationship

Housing accounts for a high proportion of the capital investment component of welfare, and is the largest single item in household budgets. It also plays a major part in defining life styles and structuring the urban environment. It is argued that in the light of this, housing must cease to be treated as the poor relative of the four pillars of welfare and the vital role it plays must be recognised, especially in terms of synergy with other dimensions of welfare – notably pensions – that sets limits to the way welfare states are organised. Differences in how housing is organised between countries therefore need to be given much closer and more theoretically informed attention by welfare researchers than has been the case hitherto. In this article a first step is made toward this end.