ABSTRACT
The discussion so far has examined the impact of the restructuring of the international division of labour upon the occupational structure and patterns of employment and has identified a number of important national-and regional-level variations demonstrating the continued importance of both nation states and regions. Alongside these changes to the economic and employment structure there have also been shifts in the organisation and delivery of welfare provisions as the nation state is restructured (see Chapter 6). The changes that have occurred impact upon the lives of people through their experiences at the local level where they live. Much has been made in recent discussion of the need for physical and social security in the contemporary, fragmented social world.1 A major contribution to this is home ownership where the home provides a place of potential material advantage and a source of territorial security for the residents and thus satisfies both an economic shelter and social-psychological requirement. Saunders in his most recent discussion goes further than this and suggests that there is a ‘natural basis to the desire to own’ (Saunders 1990b: 60) indicating home ownership is a product of both biology and ideology.
