This research project is the first comprehensive interdisciplinary study into the so far unrecognised interplay between two major social trends of the post-war period: the upward trend in income inequality, and the increase of owner-occupation. Using a comparative perspective, the project aims at constructing a unified account by means of a systematic analysis of: 1) the ‘driving’ forces of both social trends; 2) the ways in which the upswing in income inequality and the expansion of home-ownership might reinforce or counteract each other and hence lead to a redistribution of social and economic risks; 3) how the statistical relationships between variables at the macro-level play out in diverse institutional settings, looking through a more in-depth historical-comparative lens; 4) how the macro-level relationships between both social trends are negotiated by households and individuals as their housing, labour market and family trajectories unfold; 5) how households and individuals negotiate between their perceptions of the economic benefits and risks associated with home-ownership and the ‘real-life’-opportunities and constraints; and 6) how these norms have changed over time as a result of increased income inequality and/or increasing home-ownership rates.Answers will be provided by means of an innovative multi-method and cross-nationally comparative research design. In four subprojects, I will look at these issues through various lenses, using diverse methods of analysis. I take a longitudinal-historical approach, focussing on the post-war era. My scope ranges from large-scale quantitative analysis of country-level data and of individual retrospective and prospective housing, labour and family trajectories to a comparative in-depth case study of institutional developments in a selection of countries. Different analytical approaches are combined in all proposed subprojects.