4 ms·
Yes, I think I was missing your point. I think that your thrust was that smaller average household sizes means more dwellings are required. This is a good poin
by zizee 4y ago
Yes, I think I was missing your point.
I think that your thrust was that smaller average household sizes means more dwellings are required. This is a good point.
Shrinking average household sizes could be explained by the shrinking size of the average family, or it could be explained by shifting expectations, by people wanting more.
If you take a population where all single people are willing to live in share houses, your average size of your household goes up. If all the single people expect to live in their own apartment because they want their own space, own bathroom/kitchen, then this would drive down the average household size.
I would expect both of these dynamics to be at play here. Average family sizes are decreasing in most developed countries. People's expectations have also risen with regards to housing.
I wonder what effect each has on the demand for housing in Portugal?
BTW: Your personal example is possibly a good example of shifting expectations in society, whether you recognise it or not. Every sibling moved into a place by themselves? Did no one move into a sharehouse? I probably do not live in the same country as you, but it used to be in my country that when you first move out of home it is not the norm to live by yourself. What's the norm these days?
- bobthepanda 4y agoPeople definitely want to live by themselves even if they cannot afford to, and other things also factor into it. (Disclaimer, I'm American, so can't speak directly about the Portuguese experience.) But as an example, at this point I don't remember the last time I saw a bunk bed in a non-dorm room setting. This used to be extremely common in low-income housing in particular [1] but as an example I have never, ever seen anyone share a bunk bed with a stranger. One other effect is location, location, location. In Lisbon in particular, like most European cities there is generally a height limit imposed on most of the city (higher than most places in the US, but not so high that tall buildings are allowed). There is only ten buildings above 80 meters in all of Portugal. If your building is so short, there is only going to be so many ways to subdivide it before you can't split it more to accommodate people. --- [1] - a historical photo of an NYC tenement: https://media.gettyimages.com/id/640482741/photo/bunkrooms-in-new-york-tenement-house.webp?s=2048x2048&w=gi&k=20&c=0DrrFkcMils0EaM7VeYSs4PtTKr50f-w25tfYZTHPXw= https://media.gettyimages.com/id/640482741/photo/bunkrooms-i...