Housing stratification in Romania: mapping a decade of change

Abstract

Given increasing economic affluence, improvement in housing conditions and population decline in the last three decades, Romanians should be more likely to experience better housing than ever before, particularly in terms of the availability and affordability of space. But substantial improvement alongside numerous people still suffering poor conditions begs the important question of who has benefited and who has been excluded. Engaging the theoretical framework of diverse economies and drawing on 2007 and 2018 Eurostat-SILC micro-data, we examine the realignment between housing and income stratification across a proposed housing typology that reflects historically enduring arrangements of housing provisions and economic hierarchies. We find that residents’ socioeconomic profiles differ significantly by type of housing (e.g. showing surprising economic prosperity in urban flats and extreme poverty in some rural houses), which positions our typology as an expression of housing stratification. Furthermore, multivariate analyses highlight the increasingly stronger relationship between income and housing consumption over the decade. Of concern, a large share of the population (the bottom 40% of the income distribution) has fallen further into housing disadvantage after controlling for overall improvements in housing conditions. Conversely, the relative distance between middle- and higher-income households has decreased; given the dominance of small dwellings in the housing stock, higher-income groups seem unable to transfer their financial gains into space in their main residence except a minority engaged in the self-provision of ‘villas’. These patterns of housing stratification indicate a move towards a 40%/60% ‘hour-glass’ society if housing continues to remain outside the political agenda.

Market-Based Housing Reforms and the Residualization of Public Housing: The Experience of Lodz, Poland

“…Despite this limitation, we believe that some general trends in the evolving socio-demographic composition of public housing residents can be distinguished. In trying to select a set of explanatory variables, we isolate the demographic, economic and social characteristics that appear to be significant predictors of housing segmentation and/or housing inequalities under socialism (Kulu, 2003;Szelenyi, 1983), under the post-socialist transition (and after; see Gentile, 2015;Gentile & Marcińczak, 2014;Hess et al, 2012;Soaita & Dewilde, 2020;Lux et al, 2011), and in Western Europe (Musterd, 2014;Norris & Winston, 2012). Accordingly, we select the following characteristics of household heads and their households from the national censuses: age, household type, level of educational attainment, and socio-professional category (for 2002 only).…”

“…To gain further insights into the process of public housing residualization we also conducted a simple descriptive analysis of the evolving quality of Lodz's public housing stock. Table 4 illustrates the changing levels of housing consumption and sewage provision (the existence of a flush toilet in the dwelling), which are common indicators of housing stratification (Soaita & Dewilde, 2020). The level of housing consumption was identical in the public and in other housing sectors in Lodz in 1978. This could be the effect of strict housing norms regarding housing consumption under socialism (French, 1995).…”

“…With some delay compared to Western Europe, the political changes in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the region's re-emergence into the world economy have seen the dismantling and monetizing of state housing sectors at the forefront of broader social and economic transformations (Lux & Sunega, 2014). As space precludes a comprehensive review of literature on hous-ing transition after socialism-for recent reviews and explanations see Hegedus, Lux, and Teller (2013), Soaita and Dewilde (2020) and Stephens et al (2015)-suffice it to say that, characterized by the decommodified housing system before 1990, the CEE countries implemented a large-scale give-away privatization of public stock after the collapse of the ancient regime. Essentially, stateowned housing was privatized to sitting tenants at prices substantially below market value.…”

Single Motherhood and Multigenerational Coresidence in Europe

“…Around the same time, the collapse of state socialism resulted in a reduction of public childcare, housing shortages, and widespread poverty (Castiglioni et al. 2016), leading many to double up with family members (Soaita and Dewilde 2021)—a process particularly pronounced in Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia and to a lesser extent also in Romania and Bulgaria (World Bank 2022).…”

Mass homeownership policy and economic well-being of the elderly: empirical evidence from the Polish household survey

“…However, they also conclude – taking cross-country variation into account – that this effect tends to diminish as the homeownership rate increases. Soaita and Dewilde (2021) analyze the relationship between housing disadvantage and household income among Romanian households. Their findings reveal that this linkage tends to get stronger over time.…”