Inter-generational housing inequalities : perspectives from ‘Baby Boomers’ versus the ‘Millennials’
Date
03/07/2018Funder
Grant ID
RP2011-IJ-024
Keywords
Metadata
Show full item recordAltmetrics Handle Statistics
Altmetrics DOI Statistics
Abstract
In contrast to the post-war period, the late 20th and early 21st centuries in the UK have been characterised by the advancement of neoliberal policies including privatisation of the housing system and employment casualisation. Consequently, there are growing socioeconomic inequalities between those born in the post-war period – the ‘Baby Boomers’ – and the younger generation – the ‘Millenials’. Such inequalities have led to narratives of inter-generational conflict with Baby Boomers framed as jeopardising the futures of Millenials. Drawing on Mannheim’s theory of social generations, the concept of generational habitus and qualitative data from 49 Baby Boomers and 62 Millenials, we unpack the ways in which inter-generational inequalities are intersubjectively understood and discussed. Our data indicate that while young people are aware of inter-generational inequalities, they do not feel resentful towards their parents’ generation for profiting at their expense. Instead, many blame the government for not representing their interests. Thus, narratives of inter-generational conflict misleadingly direct blame towards the agency of Baby Boomers rather than political structures.
Citation
Hoolachan , J & McKee , K 2018 , ' Inter-generational housing inequalities : perspectives from ‘Baby Boomers’ versus the ‘Millennials’ ' , Urban Studies , vol. OnlineFirst . https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098018775363
Publication
Urban Studies
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0042-0980Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2018, Urban Studies Journal Limited. This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098018775363
Collections
Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.