Home Ownership and the Welfare State: Is Southern Europe Different?

In: South European society & politics, Band 1, Heft 2, S. 163-185

Abstract

Starts from the hypothesis that private expenditure on home ownership & public expenditure on aged pensions represent alternative &, to some extent, mutually exclusive mechanisms of lifetime saving for old age. Greece, Italy, &, to a lesser degree, Spain are identified as being among the only advanced nations in which home ownership is extensive & social insurance age pensions extremely generous. Features of southern European society that make it possible to combine these features are noted, but fiscal & demographic problems resulting from policy that privileges the old at the expense of the young are highlighted. 38 References. Adapted from the source document.