FEATURE THE AGE DIVIDE
of housing (un)affordability for trends of residential age segregation over time. Our analyses indicate that the probability of an older adult (65 and over) sharing the same neighbourhood with a younger adult (aged 25-44) has decreased over time, with evidence of higher residential age segregation as housing affordability decreases across each neighbourhood in England and Wales. While this relationship could be expected to be driven by the effect of London house prices, our results indicate a similar association between housing (un)affordability and residential age segregation outside London. So, this is not just a London phenomenon and
it’s not just an urban phenomenon. Our results show that the gradient of increasing residential age segregation as affordability decreases is more evident in rural areas than in urban areas. But it is also clear that neighbourhoods in both rural and urban areas with lower levels of affordability are becoming more residentially age-segregated. This pattern of increased residential separation between older and younger adults indicates that there is an important socioeconomic dimension to residential age segregation, and that age is a significant dimension along which residential neighbourhoods with different levels of housing (un)affordability are becoming segregated. The current policy focus in the UK and elsewhere on ‘ageing in place’ highlights one possible mechanism expected to increase residential age segregation, but the lack of affordable housing is also playing a key role. Dramatic increases in house prices relative to earnings and restrictions on mortgage borrowing imposed since the financial crisis are resulting in an increasing number of young adults facing the prospect of
32 SOCIETY NOW WINTER 2018
a lifetime of renting. Indeed, evidence suggests that residential aspirations have been significantly hampered by recent housing market failures, just as public resources have become constrained and employment conditions have worsened. In the UK context, these changes are likely to be reshaping not only the tenure composition of the housing stock, with more focus on private renting as the main alternative to home ownership, but also the residential distribution of older and younger adults. The potential socio-spatial consequences of increasing age segregation are considerable. The inability of many young people to access desired housing can affect other aspects of life, such as starting a family and employment opportunities. Moreover, increasing residential separation by age implies reduced inter-generational interaction that could threaten social cohesion. The spatial separation of older and younger adults is not only likely to be reducing cross-age interactions outside the family but also has substantial implications in terms of socio-political change, including competition between age groups for limited public resources to support the interests, agendas, services, and institutions that best meet age-specific needs. n
i
Albert Sabater, Nissa Finney and Elspeth Graham, ESRC Centre for Population Change, School of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St Andrews
(Un)Affordable housing and the residential separation of age groups, CPC Briefing Paper 45:
www.cpc.ac.uk/docs/BP45_UnAffordable_housing_ and_the_residential_separation_of_age_groups.pdf Web
www.cpc.ac.uk Telephone 020 76126661 @CPCpopulation
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