Feeling at Home in a Multigenerational Household: The Importance of Control

Abstract

The importance of property ownership for feelings of control and ontological security has received significant academic attention. Yet tenure may not be the only indicator of control over one’s dwelling. This paper considers the importance of control within the household in relation to household members’ feelings of home and highlights the importance of one’s relationship with other household members and their relative control over decision-making and the use of space. It draws upon research on multigenerational households in Australian cities, including a survey (n = 392), diaries (n = 21) and interviews (n = 21). Individuals’ feelings of home were influenced by their sense of control over their dwellings, which varied for different household members. This has significant implications for research on the meaning of home, and suggests that important synergies are possible between researchers concerned with the form and nature of social interactions within the family and housing researchers concerned with the meaning of home.

Key Words:

• Family
• Home
• Housing
• Multigenerational living

Acknowledgements

Our sincere thanks to those people who gave their time to share their experiences of multigenerational living with us through participating in the survey, interview and diary exercises. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the European Network for Housing Research Conference in 2014, and we would like to thank colleagues in the audience for their thoughtful comments. We would also like to thank three anonymous referees for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Respondents’ names have been removed to ensure anonymity. Each respondent household is identified by a unique number, the state in which they live (New South Wales or Queensland) and whether the comment is from their diary (D) or an interview (I). Where multiple diaries were received, or if multiple interviews were conducted with the same household, they are identified by −1 or −2 after the household number. Also included is an indication of the respondent’s age, their gender, their household type and composition and ownership status of their home.

Additional information

Funding

The research reported in this paper was supported under the Australian Research Council’s Discovery Projects funding scheme [project number DP120100956].