MORTGAGE DEBT, INSECURE HOME OWNERSHIP AND HEALTH - AN EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS

This paper is a direct response to Wilkinson's (1996) call for more re search into housing insecurity and health. It explores the consequence s of mortgage arrears for both the health of indebted home owners and their use of primary health care services. It is based on the results of a secondary analysis of the British Household Panel Survey. It demo nstrates that the experience of mortgage indebtedness has an independe nt effect on the subjective well being of men and women, and that it i ncreases the likelihood that men will visit their general practitioner s. The paper draws upon the sociological notions of 'ontological secur ity' and 'individualisation' to make sense of these empirical findings . It suggests that policies which have encouraged the growth of home o wnership are premised on the idea of individual responsibility, a noti on which underpins other spheres of contemporary welfare policies. Wit hin this context, the consequences of mortgage indebtedness are likely to have profound psychosocial consequences for those who have direct experience of it. The spectre of mortgage debt may also contribute to the insecurity which has come to form a feature of our contemporary so cial and cultural life.