Social Class, Consumption Divisions and Housing Mobility

Abstract

The relationship between the labour market and housing market has emerged in the last decade as an area of considerable research interest (e.g. Thorns, 1982; Hamnett, 1984; Allen and Hamnett, 1990). Although this subject seems initially esoteric and highly specialised, it has important implications for understanding contemporary patterns of social stratification. This paper will examine the relationship between social class position and housing tenure through an analysis of the housing and occupational destinations of 1150 adult children of existing council tenants in Guildford, Surrey. Our aim is to examine the extent to which an individual’s housing tenure can be explained in terms of his/her labour market position, and in particular the degree to which social class divisions can be regarded as the primary forces affecting housing tenure destinations.