The Myth of the Promised Land: The Social Diffusion of Home Ownership in Britain and North America

Abstract

North America has been viewed as a land of opportunity, where not only a high proportion of families but also families of diverse social backgrounds have been able to acquire a home. From a comparative perspective, this perception is less accurate today than it was a century ago. In the late nineteenth century the overall level of home ownership was higher in Canada and the U.S. than it was in England and Wales, but lately the gap has closed. Today, social class differences in patterns of ownership are greater in Britain, but neglected census and survey data reveal that in North America such differences have increased since the turn of the century. The reasons for the patterns of home ownership in North America compared to those in Britain are complex. National differences in urbanization, income growth, land prices, immigration, self-building, construction technology, and the availability of mortgage credit have been crucial. These factors have not, however, been adequately handled by existing theory.

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