Moving into a Disadvantaged Tenure?
Pathways into Social Housing
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64166/dxv7qm38Keywords:
Social Housing, Housing Affordability, Housing Pathways, Neighborhood Effects, StigmaAbstract
Social housing provides an important alternative to private rental and owneroccupation for lowincome households. At the same time, concerns have been raised in the literature about some of the more problematic aspects of living in social housing, such as exposure to various forms of placebased (or tenurebased) disadvantage, including stigma. In this paper we present findings from a study of the housing pathways of sixty individuals in Australia who recently moved into a social housing tenancy. We examine how stigma has influenced their housing pathways, particularly their decision to apply for social housing. Yet, through analysis of their experiences of living in social housing after moving in, we argue that utilizing the concept of placebased disadvantage in this context is problematic when considering the overall positive outcomes for these households.
References
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2009) Housing occupancy and costs 200708. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (2011a) National Social Housing Survey: A summary of national results2010, Canberra: AustralianInstitute of Health and Welfare.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (2011b) Housing assistance in Australia, 2011. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (2012) National Social Housing Survey: a summary of national results 2011. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Arthurson, K. (2012) Social Mix, Reputation and Stigma: Exploring residents’ perspectives of neighborhood effects. In van Ham, M., Manley, D.,Bailey, N., Simpson, L. and Maclennan, D. (eds.) Neighborhood Ef ects Research: New Perspectives, London: Springer, pp. 101119.
Atkinson, E. and Kintrea, K. (2001) Disentangling area effects: Evidence from deprived and nondeprived neighborhoods.Urban Studies, 38(12): 22772298.
Australian Government (2010) How new migrants fare: Analysis of the continuous survey of Australia’s migrants. Canberra: Department ofImmigration and Citizenship, http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/research/_pdf/csamresults2010.pdf
Bradbury, B. and Chalmers, J. (2003) Housing, Location and Employment: Final Report. Melbourne: Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute.
Briggs, X. De Souza (1998) Brown kids in white suburbs: housing mobility and the many faces of social capital. Housing Policy Debate, 9(1): 177–221.
Clapham, D. (2002) Housing pathways: A postmodern analytical framework. Housing, Theory and Society, 19(2): 5768.
Clapham, D. (2010) Happiness, wellbeing and housing policy. Policy and Politics, 38(2): 253267.
Darcy, M. (2007) Place and disadvantage: The need for reflexive epistemology in spatial social science. Urban Policy and Research, 25(3): 347361.
Clapham, D. (2010) Deconcentration of Disadvantage and Mixed Income Housing: A Critical Discourse Approach. Housing, Theory and Society, 27(1): 122
Forrest, R. and Kearns, A. (2001) Social cohesion, social capital and the neighborhood. Urban Studies, 38 (12): 21252143.
Galster, G. (2009) Neighborhood Social Mix: Theory, Evidence and Implications for Policy and Planning. Paper presented at International Workshop onPlanning for/With People, Technion University, Haifa, Israel June 2009.
Hayward, D. (1996) The reluctant landlords? A history of public housing in Australia. Urban Policy and Research, 14(1): 535.
Heumann, L. F. (1998) Assisted Living in Public Housing. In: Varady, D.P., Preiser, W.F.E. and Russell, F.P. (eds.) New Directions in Urban PublicHousing. New Brunswick, NJ: Center for Urban Policy Research, pp. 6182.
Hulse, K., Milligan, V. and Easthope, H. (2011) Secure occupancy in rental housing: Conceptual foundations and comparative perspectives.Melbourne: Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute.
Jacobs, K., Arthurson, K., Cica, N., Greenwood, A. and Hastings, A. (2011) The stigmatization of social housing: Findings from a panel investigation.Melbourne: Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute.
Jones, M. (1972) Housing and Poverty in Australia. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.
Lawson, J. and Milligan, V. (2007) International trends in housing and policy responses: Final report. Melbourne: Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute.
Lawton, M.P. and Simon, B. (1968) The ecology of social relationships in housing for the elderly. The Gerontologist, 8: 108115.
Palmer, C., Ziersch, A., Arthurson, K. and Baum, F. (2005) Challenging the stigma of public housing: Preliminary findings from a qualitative study inSouth Australia. Urban Policy and Research, 23(4): 393–411.
Pawson, H., Davison, G. and Wiesel, I. (2012) Addressing concentrations of disadvantage: Policy, practice and literature review. Melbourne: Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute.
Rainwater, L. (1966) Fear and the houseashaven in the lower class. Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 32(1): 2331.
Scrambler, G. (2009) Healthrelated stigma. Sociology of Health and Illness, 31(3): 441–55.
Strauss, A.L. and Corbin, J.M. (1997) Grounded theory in practice. London: Sage.
Stubbs, J and Minto Resident Action Group (2005) Leaving Minto: A study of the social and economic impacts of public housing estate redevelopment. hhttp://www.ncoss.org.au/bookshelf/conference/download/perspectives_on_poverty/Judypercent20Stubbspercent20Mintopercent20Reportpercent20for
Yen, I.H., Shim, J.K., Martinez, A.D. and Barker, J.C. (2012) Older people and social connectedness: How place and activities keep people engaged.Journal of Aging Research, EPpub 2012: 110.
Ziersch, A. and Arthurson, K. (2005) Social networks in public and community housing: the impact on employment outcomes. Urban Policy and Research, 23(4): 429–45.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2013 Ilan Wiesel, Hazel Easthope (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
