Housing precariousness: An experiment in measurement using existing data Amy Clair Department of Sociology University of Oxford

Why? Prominence of precariousness Housing issues following the recession Potential to build on previous work Comparative study 2

Aims To clarify what precariousness is and its relevance to housing To develop a measure of housing precariousness using secondary data To maximise its potential for cross-country analysis To maximise its potential for further use To explore the validity of the measure To be able to make recommendations about the possibilities of secondary data in measuring housing precariousness and the need for new data collection 3

Defining precariousness “stability and continuity of the employment relationship; stability of income; quality of working conditions; and access to social protection through the employment relationship” (Barbier, 2004, pg 7). A state which increases a person’s real or perceived exposure to an adverse event or shock, caused (at least in part) by their relationship with their housing provider, the physical qualities, affordability, and accessibility of their home 4

Housing precariousness framework 5

Methods and Data EU-SILC 2012 Additional Housing Conditions Module 31 European Countries Individual level data on 428,863 people (428,415 weighted) 6

The Employment Precariousness Scale Employment Precariousness Scale Dimensions Employment Precariousness Scale Indicators Temporariness  Length of contract  Time spent in temporary employment Disempowerment (ability to negotiate terms)  How workplace schedule agreed  How working hours agreed  How wages/salary agreed Vulnerability (protections from unfair removal and ability to request improvements)  Fear of demanding better working conditions  No protection from unfair treatment  Fear of being fired  Discriminatory or unjust treatment  Made to feel replaceable Wages  Able to cover basic needs  Cover unexpected expenses  Regular pay Rights (in the case of employment this refers to paid holiday or maternity/paternity pay for example)  Paid holiday leave  Pension  Severance/redundancy pay  Maternity/paternity leave  Leave for personal reasons  Weekly holidays  Unemployment benefit Exercise rights (ability to actually take advantage of above rights)  Weekly holiday  Sick leave  Can go to the doctor  Holiday  Personal leave Source: Vives et al., 2010

The Housing Precariousness Measure Housing Precariousness Measure Dimensions Cross-National Indicators from EU-SILC Construction Temporariness and disempowerment  Risk of change in current dwelling  Forced change of previous dwelling  Respondents who report being forced to move in the last 5 years, or will have to move in the next year coded as 1. Quality and facilities  Presence of leaks and/ or damp  Presence of essential utilities - bath/shower  Presence of essential utilities - toilet  Ability to keep home warm in winter  Ability to keep home cool in summer  Overcrowding  Any respondent that reported 2 or more of these issues was coded as 1. Affordability  Burden of housing costs  Those that report their housing costs are a ‘heavy’ burden are coded as 1. Access to essential services  Access to Grocery services  Access to Banking services  Access to Postal services  Access to Public transport  Access to Health care  Respondents who are coded as having difficulty accessing 3 or more services are coded as 1. 8

The Housing Precariousness Measure 9 The result: 0 – 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 Not precarious Most precarious

Relationships between Precariousness Dimensions 10 Accessibility problems Lack of facilities High financial burden Forced move Accessibility problems 13.2%3.58%6.55%0.51% Lack of facilities 17.3%9.49%1.07% High financial burden 35.7%2.35% Forced move 7.24%

Housing Precariousness across Europe 11

Housing Precariousness Distributions across Europe 12

Very High Housing Precariousness across Europe 13

Housing Precariousness and Tenure across Europe 14

Housing Precariousness and Individual Characteristics 15

Alternative constructions Alternative 1: Removing the thermal comfort variables Alternative 2: Financial burden as necessary for precariousness Alternative 3: Quality/facilities and access to essential services treated as scale variables 16

Limitations Can’t look at causality – are people in worse health because they are in precarious housing, or are they in precarious housing because of their health, or both? Limited number of variables – subjective information particularly missing. 17

Next Steps Comparison with 2007 levels Argue for purpose-made survey More in-depth single-country study Investigate contagiousness between areas of life Precarity 18

Thank you 19

VariableCategoriesFrequency (valid %) Gender Male206,657 (48.2%) Female (51.8%) Marital status Never married131,437 (30.7%) Married228,965 (5.47%) Separated5,667 (1.32%) Widowed35,442 (8.28%) Divorced26,739 (6.24%) Tenure Outright owner203,836 (47.6%) Owner with mortgage104,425 (24.4%) Tenant76,840 (17.9%) Reduced rate tenant25,672 (5.99%) Free accommodation17,534 (4.09%) Education level Pre-primary3,229 (0.77%) Primary46,347 (11.1%) Lower secondary79,747 (19.1%) Upper secondary179,199 (42.8%) Post-secondary13,730 (3.28%) Tertiary96,605 (23.0%) VariableCategoriesFrequency (valid %) Employment status Employed219,118 (51.2%) Unemployed29,785 (6.96%) Retired99,711 (23.3%) Other inactive79,166 (18.5%) General health Very good96,579 (23.4%) Good186,051 (45.1%) Fair89,698 (21.7%) Bad31,959 (7.75%) Very bad8,295 (2.01%) Limiting health condition Yes, strongly limiting34,987 (8.31%) Yes, limiting73,694 (17.5%) No312,314 (74.2%) AgeMean 47.6, S.D Disposable incomeMean 32536, S.D Sample details

21 Countries Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK.

Alternative construction 1 22

Alternative construction 2 23

Alternative construction 3 24