Effective personalised housing support for people with disabilities – case study analysis

International policy trends favour personalised approaches to housing support for people with disabilities. Previous research is inconclusive about whether these approaches are effective compared to group home support in the way they use government resources and benefit clients, partly because it does not usually consider the experiences of people who use the support. In this research we compared six new, innovative case studies of personalised housing support to previous research about group home support. We included qualitative data about client experiences, in particular regarding social networks, decision making, community service use and participation in domestic tasks. We found that client outcomes were positive in all four categories, while the financial costs to clients and government were similar to group home support. The results offer evidence that current, personalised approaches to housing support can be an effective policy option that allows people with disabilities to make choices about how to live and participate in their communities, without increasing the cost to government.     

北京市流动人口住房状况的非制度影响因素分析

流动人口的住房研究以往大多集中于制度性因素的研究,但是近来对收入、教育程度、流动时间等非制度因素给予了越来越多的关注。本文利用北京市流动人口的调查数据进行分析研究,发现流动人口住房条件受到收入和在京居住时间这两个因素的显著影响,收入越高、居住时间越长,居住状况就越好。居留的稳定性对住房状况影响显著,但是工作稳定性没有对流动人口住房状况产生影响。因此,对流动人口应实行体现资产建设型的社会政策,普遍推行住房公积金的福利制度。     

论制定《住宅保障法》的必要性及主要框架设计

近年来,社会各界都在呼吁我国尽快制定《住宅保障法》来维护广大人民的居住权益,但这部法至今也未能出台。本文从我国制定《住宅保障法》的必要性出发,分析了《住宅保障法》应该明确的主要内容,尝试设计了《住宅保障法》的主要框架。     

政策属性与中国社会政策创新的扩散研究

中国城镇住房制度改革的30年,中国住房供给体系从计划的公共住房体系转向了以市场为导向的供应体系,随着住房货币化分配及住房私有化的浪潮,中国政府鼓励城镇家庭从住房市场购买住房。为实现职工购买住房的初始资金积累,政府对新加坡中央公积金进行制度模仿,建立中国住房公积金制度。作为一种强制储蓄积累计划,中国住房公积金制度虽然在供款方式、覆盖范围等政策要素上与新加坡中央公积金制度具有形式上的相似性,却没有创造与新加坡中央公积金支持下组屋体系同样积极的社会与经济效果。基于Dolowitz和Marsh关于政策移植效果评价的模型框架,讨论中国住房公积金制度是否存在政策移植的失灵。研究表明,住房市场结构的不可复制性、不同的政策要素与机制,使住房公积金制度在移植过程中存在\     

A Review of the Literature on LGBTQ Adults Who Experience Homelessness

ABSTRACT

Little is known about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) adults who experience homelessness. The current review critically analyzes the scant literature on LGBTQ adults who experience homelessness, with a particular focus on: (1) pathways into homelessness; (2) support needs; (3) targeted programming; and (4) exits out of homelessness. A total of 143 articles were identified, and 16 articles met the criteria of appropriate age range, article quality, and relevance of topic. Results from this review demonstrate that homeless LGBTQ adults have unique physical and mental health challenges, largely concerning HIV and substance use. Transgender and gender non-conforming adults who experience homelessness encounter several challenges in the homelessness system, particularly in regard to safety and gender-affirming supports. Recommendations focus on practical implications for support and suggestions for future research.     

Services Provided by Elderly Volunteers

As the number of elderly persons increases, the social service needs of older Americans will grow too. To provide a variety of services, many social service agencies across the nation are helping the elderly organize to help themselves. This paper represents the second of a series of research reports derived from a federally funded research project to investigate the types of services that trained elderly volunteers provide to other elderly persons in the community. This paper presents a multivariate analysis of elderly volunteers who go beyond providing socializing and reassuring services and provide instrumental services. The independant variables are developed to capture the level of the physical and mental strengths of elderly volunteers. Theses strengths are psychological functioning, perceived health, psychological adjustment, and social resources. In addition, program-participation factors, such as the duration of participation in the volunteer project and the number of persons served, as well as variables related to demographic and educational backgrounds, are included in the analysis as controls. The major findings from this study are the following: (1) Among the independant variables, perceived health is a statistically significant predictor of a volunteer's becoming a provider of instrumental services; (2) The volunteer's level of education and the number of elderly persons served are also statistically significant predictors. One the whole, however, elderly volunteers perfer socialization and reasurance over instrumental services when they try to help other elderly persons.     

Weaving nets: Housing and leadership in two Italian cities

As part of local welfare in Italy, housing policies underwent reforms that emphasized the role of local governments—and cities in particular—in the definition of the problem and in the elaboration of possible solutions. Housing is quite neglected in the political debate, but it is increasingly important for responding to citizens' demands in times of economic crisis. This paper reconstructs the policy process in two Italian cities, Turin (1997–2011) and Florence (1995–2011). The paper argues that policy change in housing can be fostered by a local political leadership that invests ideational, relational, and positional resources in policy making to spread new ideas, build networks of public and private actors at the local level, and attract fiscal resources while taking advantage of windows of opportunity at different institutional levels. Moreover, collaboration with local bureaucratic leadership proves fundamental to promoting innovative policies.     

房价上涨路径分析综述

1998年住宅实行商品化后,房价上升迅速,房价上升是由于我国货币供应量超过国民经济总量所致。货币超发与我国在改革开放后经济的增长模式高度相关,以出口和投资特别是政府投资带动的经济发展,在经济制度选择上引致货币被动和主动的超发。政府投资的资金依赖于城镇土地出让金,在城镇土地出让数量受到限制的约束下,土地出让金被不断地推高,带动房价上涨超过居民的实际购买力水平。     

A price worth paying? Accountability,red tape and the regulation of affordable housing

Although it is not a pressing social problem in the same way as, for example, poverty, child abuse, or climate change, red tape causes frustrations for many working in public and private sector organisations, perhaps even more than for the ordinary citizen dealing with large government agencies. This paper will explore some dimensions of this contentious issue. It will consider the positive view of regulation advanced by regulation theorists, and some qualitative researchers associated with this tradition. Drawing on a qualitative research study concerning the regulation of affordable housing in Australia, it examines the nature of administrative burdens. It is suggested that three factors lead to the perception of red tape: whether regulation is seen as making a difference to services beyond accountability; whether the measures used are meaningful; and the resources available for compliance. Qualitative researchers can help those in government seeking to reduce administrative burdens by supplying realistic accounts that address the views and experiences of those subject to regulation.     

The long-term consequences of youth housing for childbearing and higher education

The lack of housing in areas where young adults have greater opportunities to study and get work complicates young adults’ entry into the adulthood. Difficulties in accessing housing may therefore delay childbearing and may negatively have an effect on education opportunities. To increase housing accessibility, some municipalities have earmarked apartments for young adults. These “youth dwellings” are criticized for being small and not necessarily facilitating family formation and fertility, better suiting students’ needs. We have in this paper compared the long-term pattern of childbearing and education for young adults that entered their housing market through small cheap youth housing with those youngsters that received a rental apartment from the ordinary housing stock. To be able to draw the conclusion that differences in fertility and educational pattern between these two groups comes from the different housing situation and not from differences in in preferences when it comes to childbearing or individual prerequisites for higher education, we have used a geocoded data and information on the individual’s family background as well as a matching technique to create a comparison group that are similar to the treatment group in several aspects. The present results indicate that building affordable housing that is small and space efficient is sufficient and positive if the aim is to promote higher education. Affordable housing is on the other hand not enough to promote childbearing, instead, it seems to inhibit childbearing until there is a possibility of moving on in the housing career. Our result also indicates that the next step need not necessarily be homeownership, as earlier research has indicated. Entering the housing market via youth housing and then being able to move on to rental accommodation in the ordinary housing market also seems to have a positive effect on overall childbearing, although moving to cooperative housing or owned housing has an even larger effect.