The housing pathways of lesbian and gay youth and intergenerational family relations: a Southern European perspective

Abstract

Against the heteronormativity of the increasing field of studies around intergenerational family relations within asset-based welfare systems, the paper analyses the housing pathways of lesbian and gay young people, focusing on family intergenerational relations and the implications concerning emotional, private and sexual life. The paper focuses on Greece and Italy, two countries characterized by the so-called ‘Southern European’ model of welfare system centred around the family. Given the persistence of homo/lesbophobia, this process pushes lesbian and gay youth to negotiate between housing choices and personal lives in ambivalent ways. The housing strategies analysed are regrouped into four categories: (i) the return to the family house; (ii) the dependence on the family of origin to buy or rent; (iii) international migration to be more autonomous; (iv) the experience of alternative housing models, mostly squatting, or sharing (including Airbnb). Our categorization must not be interpreted as fixed or immutable since people might try different solutions over time.

Keywords:

• Lesbian and gay youth
• Housing pathways
• Asset-based welfare
• Intergenerational family relations
• Southern Europe

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 We are aware that the definition of ‘young’ people is controversial and depending on the national context. In line with the debate on precarity in Southern Europe that has highlighted how younger generations are the most exposed to the negative consequences of the crisis (e.g. Di Feliciantonio, 2017), in this paper we consider as ‘young’ people aged under 35.

2 Source: https://www.spitogatos.gr. [last access: 08/05/2020]

3 Source: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/9628005/3-01032019-BP-EN.pdf/fdee8c71-7b1a-411a-86fa-da4af63710e1 [last access: 20/07/2020]

4 Source: https://www.spitogatos.gr. [last access: 08/05/2020]

5 Source: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Unemployment_statistics [last access: 20/09/2019]

6 Source: http://rainbow-europe.org/ [last access: 20/09/2019]

7 All the quotes are from the personal interviews.

Additional information

Funding

The work of Cesare Di Feliciantonio is generously supported by the European Commission, MSCA-IF-EF-ST Action, grant number: 747110.

Notes on contributors

Cesare Di Feliciantonio

Cesare Di Feliciantonio is Lecturer in Human Geography at Manchester Metropolitan University and is the recipient of a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship (2018–2020; host at the University of Leicester).

Myrto Dagkouly-Kyriakoglou

Myrto Dagkouli-Kyriakoglou is a post-doctoral researcher at the Institute of Urban Research of Malmo University. She obtained her PhD from the Gran Sasso Science Institute (Italy) in 2019.