Risk, Individualisation and the Single Life

Abstract

In this chapter, we outline the elements of an alternative framework for exploring contemporary household formation amongst young adults. In so doing, we acknowledge the importance of the constraint model, introduced in the previous chapter, in underlining the broader structural frameworks within which young people experience household formation. However, we believe that it cannot account for the choices and experiences of all young adults, and as such provides only a partial explanation of contemporary patterns of household formation, particularly amongst ‘older’ young people. Our alternative framework is an attempt to offer a fresh perspective on processes of household formation in the light of broader social transformation. As with the constraint model, it too cannot account for the experiences of all young people, but in seeking to gain a fuller understanding of contemporary domestic and housing transitions we believe that researchers need to explore how the two models relate to each other. Successive government policies in the sphere of education, training, employment and housing, alongside adverse economic conditions affecting many young adults, have undoubtedly acted as powerful catalysts for recent demographic trends. Nonetheless, serious consideration equally deserves to be given to broader shifts within contemporary society, particularly those relating to changes in the labour market and in the life course, as well as shifting attitudes towards the politics and dynamics of contemporary relationships.