Housing

Abstract

Housing clearly has a physical component, and this distinguishes it from the other topics we have considered. In topics like migration, crime and the family there is virtually no tangible element, apart from the people involved. Housing is different. Here we are dealing with physical things. There is no great mystery as to why social science is concerned with housing. Economic considerations provide part of the reason for this interest. At a minimum, housing has to be produced and forms part of the economy. But that is by no means the only motive for studying social interactions with housing, or for that matter, with any type of material object. Everything we need or desire, from clothing to transportation and jewellery, has a social dimension and comes under the purview of the social sciences, including economics, but not confined to economics. While all products have important aspects which extend beyond economics, this is particularly true of housing.