Housing Poverty in Polish Households and its Diversity

Research background: The European Housing Charter defines housing as a basic necessity, but also a fundamental social right underpinning the European social model as well as an element of human dignity. Housing conditions constitute a major element of the broader quality of life for individuals and society.

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to assess the level of housing poverty in general and in selected areas of an assessment of Polish households due to the selected socio-demographic characteristics of the respondent or household.

Research methodology: The study was conducted on the basis of micro-data from the Household Budget Survey of 2017. To determine the housing poverty risk for each household the Integrated Fuzzy and Relative approach was used, which allows for the aggregation of symptoms measured on different measuring scales into the one risk assessment of poor housing conditions. This assessment, overall and in specific areas of housing poverty, became the basis for the study of the factors differentiating this kind of poverty. For this purpose, regression trees were used.

Results: The greatest risk of housing poverty was observed in households living in rural areas, in families with many children, in the households of single mothers or fathers, as well as in households living on unearned sources of income.

Novelty: The use of the Integrated Fuzzy and Relative approach for housing poverty research is an innovative approach and is applied in the paper.