Social Stratification and Housing Mobility

In: Sociology: the journal of the British Sociological Association, Volume 30, Issue 3, p. 533-550

Abstract

This paper examines the extent to which housing tenure constitutes an enduring aspect of social inequality in relation to theories of re-stratification and the supposed decline of social class divisions. It uses an analysis of housing mobility based upon a survey of council tenants carried out in the inner London Borough of Camden and it looks at the housing tenure destinations of the tenants' adult `children' who have left the parental home. The largest tenure of destination was owner occupation, whilst just over a third of the `children' were local authority or housing association tenants. This indicates that an inter-generational, social renting `underclass' has not so far developed, contrary to the re-stratification theories. However, a higher proportion of the younger than the older `children' were tenants of social rented housing. The relative impact of class and household employment patterns on housing mobility is considered. The paper concludes by arguing that social class is of continued importance in terms of understanding patterns of housing mobility.