Abstract:

Contemporary social theorists argue that advanced western societies are undergoing a remarkable and dramatic period of change - industrial society is said to be giving way to risk society. 'Manufactured uncertainty' and 'individualisation' are said to be the hallmark characteristics of this emergent risk society. In the face of these striking theoretical assertions, this paper explores empirically how the change to a risk society might be manifest in family life courses and housing careers. A cohort analysis of Australian Institute of Family Studies and Australian National University data seeks evidence of 'differentiation' and 'disconnectedness' in housing careers. Cohort differences in leaving the parental home, returns to the parental home, entering home purchase, and the sequencing of housing career and other life course events are examined as a means of assessing the extent to which Australian housing careers need to be reconceptualised in the transformation to a risk society. Data analysis reveals no evidence of increased differentiation in housing careers but found considerable evidence that housing careers are becoming increasingly disconnected.