East Asian families play key role in housing across generations

26 April 2010

Home ownership occupies a pivotal position in relation to life chances, social stratification and family relations. In East Asian societies, economic transformations, privatisation policies and the rise and fall of property prices have placed some age groups in highly advantageous positions while others have fallen behind and struggled to gain a foothold on the housing market. Research from the Centre for Urban Studies at the School for Policy Studies shows that amidst the transitions of post-war East Asian welfare systems, the family has continued to play a key role in negotiating and sustaining housing wealth and housing opportunities over the generations.

Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (RES-062-23-0187), Professor Ray Forrest and Dr Misa Izuhara carried out the cross-national comparative research which explored patterns of social and economic participation in increasingly market-oriented economies where housing wealth is an important element. The study looked in particular at how both actual and potential flows of material assistance and asset transfer within families differed cross-culturally.

Using face-to-face interviews with three generations of families (one member each from grandparents, parents and their adult children) in Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong, the research found that families have been, and remain, a key institution in providing housing and welfare support to their members. Families often negotiate and cope with changing housing systems and policies, and act to maximise their collective and individual benefits in housing access and asset accumulation. This was evident in all three cities whether post-war Tokyo or through the transition from planned to market economy in Shanghai. Family relationships thus represent a domain of relative continuity within the general East Asian narrative of rapid social and economic change (Japan and Hong Kong) or of marked social and economic disruption (China). However, the family as an institution is also constantly evolving. Family attachments and relations may well mediate sharp changes in economic or political conditions but are themselves transformed by that interaction. These change processes are, therefore, intimately connected to, but distinct from, political and economic changes.

As society develops, types, ideologies and levels of family support provision have shifted to withdraw, fill the gap or complement existing resources provided by other sectors. A shift has been made from extensive direct provision of both practical and personal support (eg. child care, old-age care, sharing accommodation and living space) to more indirect or material types of support (eg. finance, helping with decisions). The shift was observed in all three cities in the varying attitudes and practices of the generations and in a general move away from the previously found intensive and exclusive self-help approaches. Even among the younger generation there is an evident tension between tradition and change in relation to family support.

By examining the housing circumstances (and the related life chances) of each family across the span of three generations, the links between the past, the present and the future become clear. The housing opportunities of a younger generation can often be seen to be shaped in critical ways by the strategies and decisions of their grandparents' generation, albeit in markedly different economic and social contexts. Moreover, among a younger generation faced with greater difficulties in gaining access to housing, there is an evident tension between dependence and independence. In all three societies, a younger generation seeks greater autonomy but is at the same time increasingly dependent on parental resources for house purchase. This situation is common in many parts of the world but is of particular importance in East Asian societies, where marriage and housing remain closely interconnected.

More information:

Izuhara, M. (2010) 'Housing wealth and family reciprocity in East Asia', in M. Izuhara (Ed) Ageing and Intergenerational Relations: Family reciprocity from a global perspective, Bristol, The Policy Press

Forrest, R. (2010) (forthcoming) 'Residence through Revolution and Reform' in Bridge, G. and Watson, S. (Eds.) The New Companion to the City, Oxford, Blackwell.