How do we talk about housing equality in an increasingly unequal Europe?

Inequality is one of the defining issues of our time, and social scientists have consistently confirmed that housing is a key driver of contemporary inequalities. How then, should we talk about housing as part of a constellation of economic and social inequalities plaguing contemporary Europe? There are at least three ways to probe this question. The first way is conceptual: how do today’s housing challenges fit within a discussion of citizens’ social and legal rights? The second way is empirical: how are housing inequalities felt at different points along the income distribution? The final way is political: how are public policies driving or mitigating the inequalities that we see today? This article examines each approach and highlights the need to integrate these distinct threads into a unified larger public discussion about housing and inequality.