Public Housing and Life Chances: Insights from a Longitudinal Study

Abstract

The lack of affordable housing for low-income families with children in Australia is an issue of considerable concern in a context where access to public housing has become quite restricted and where home ownership remains the dream. The longitudinal Life Chances Study provides data to explore housing histories of 137 families with young children over an 18-year period, highlighting the lower home ownership of low-income families over time. The article then considers the housing history of 20 of the families who lived in the same high-rise public housing estate at the start of the study. Three case studies illustrate their housing pathways. While families had both positive and negative experiences in public housing, public housing provided an affordable and secure base while they established themselves in employment and saved to purchase homes. The article confirms the importance of access to public housing for low-income families.

澳大利亚的公租房越来越难以获得，而买房对于低收入人群一直是个梦想，有孩子的低收入家庭难以获得经济上能够承受的住房，这成为一个大问题。纵向研究项目“生活机遇研究”用18年追踪了137个有年幼子女的低收入家庭的住房经历，凸显出低收入家庭拥有住房状况随时间的变化。本文考察了研究初期20户住在高层公租楼房的家庭的住房变迁情况。三个案例研究揭示出住房变迁过程。尽管这些家庭在公租房方面的经历有苦有乐，公租房毕竟在这些家庭寻求就业和攒钱买房的过程中，为他们提供了可负担且有保障的居所。本文再次证明了公租房对于低收入家庭的重要性。

Keywords:

• Public housing
• housing histories
• high-rise living
• low-income families
• longitudinal study

Acknowledgements

The Life Chances Study has received generous funding from a variety of sources over the years. For stage 9, funders included the Bokhara Foundation and the Myer Foundation.

Notes

1. Reports have been produced for each of the nine stages of the study. Recent reports are available on the Brotherhood of St Laurence website (see www.bsl.org.au). This article follows up an earlier review of housing changes (Taylor, 1999).

2. Low income was defined as 120 per cent of the Henderson Poverty Line and is roughly equivalent to 60 per cent of median income—for further details on income see Taylor and Nelms (2008).