HOUSING AND LABOR MARKETS CONNECTIONS: recent developments in the portuguese economy

Housing policies have been mostly analysed as a sectoral policy across countries. This paper, written within a European research project (HOSE), aims a slightly different approach while housing policy is considered in a broader context of welfare provision. Comparing structural developments in housing and labour markets in some EU countries and the associated household behavioral responses will enable us to highlight the trend in the future social welfare provision. Particularly we will look at the possible friction between the homeownership incentives and the labor mobility needs. In this paper we sum up some of the main changes carried out in the last five years, we will identify the main trends in housing and labour markets, considering them as an important territorial issue, interfering in the future of the competitiveness in a small, back warded and open economy. Finally we will present some considerations about policy implications and research agenda on the subject. According to the group template, in the first section we refer to some structural developments starting from the research questions, urban change and social changes in the new paradigm, ending with the shifts in household structure, housing and labour markets situations. In the second section we establish some considerations about the behavioral responses of the agents. In the third section some policy implications are mentioned and conclusions are drawn.