Housing remains central to life in the 21st century: it is a major determinant of well-being, it provides a mechanism for wealth accumulation, it offers an avenue for self-expression, it is a carrier of social status and it carries significant costs for both individuals and society. It can also serve to reinforce inequality in society and either catapult individuals into adversity or further reinforce the marginal position of disadvantaged groups. Throughout Housing Transitions we have argued that the relationship between households and their housing has changed over the last four decades and that an ongoing recasting of this relationship is to be expected. This chapter re-examines the assumptions that led to the major research project that underpins this book and draws out the key lessons we have uncovered on the dynamics between housing and the life course in the 21st century. It also casts light on how housing markets and systems of housing supply are likely to evolve over the coming decades and what this will mean for populations.

From housing careers to housing transitions

As noted in the Preface, the research that led to this monograph arose out of discussions between policy makers and an Australian research institution on the issues of housing careers and how such housing careers may change in the 21st century. Policy makers were concerned to understand how housing careers may be transformed and what that may mean for the provision of government assistance into the future. In particular, government bodies in Australia were concerned about three questions of policy relevance. First, over the coming decades what will be the impact of the ageing of the ‘baby boom’ cohort in terms of housing and the demand for housing assistance? Second, is the apparent decline in entry into homeownership among 25- to 34- year-olds robust, and what are the implications for the demand for housing assistance in the long term? Third, what forms of government housing assistance will be necessary and appropriate in the 21st century given changes in household structure, labour markets and philosophical shifts in attitudes to government intervention? All three were pertinent questions and were subsequently answered through the research programme (Beer and Faulkner, 2009).

Policy-focused analysis of this nature and extent inevitably throws up more fundamental questions of a conceptual nature.