What is it about?

This paper examines the reasons why older people (who have already drawn on their housing wealth to meet a range of needs and preferences) feel that it is fair, or unfair, to require home owners to use their housing equity to pay for care. We found little evidence that reluctance was rooted in strong support for inheritance, or in cultural attachments to the owned home. Rather, perceptions of unfairness (and fairness) were associated with intra and inter-generational disadvantage.

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Why is it important?

Perceptions of relative intra-generational disadvantage for responsible saver-citizens appeared rooted in the official discourse of the ‘ownership society’, and reinforced by the political rhetoric of the ‘hardworking homeowner’. Our analysis indicates that the factors that shape older people’s attitudes toward using housing assets to pay for care have been misunderstood by policy makers, and we consider the implications of these findings for the development of a housing asset-based care funding system capable of attracting widespread support.

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This page is a summary of: Understanding Attitudes to Paying for Care amongst Equity Release Consumers: citizenship, solidarity and the ‘hardworking homeowner’, Journal of Social Policy, July 2016, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/s0047279416000416.
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