How did the great transformation shape housing pathways? The case of older women living alone

After the demise of state-socialism in Poland, the 'great transformation' brought about the marketization of housing. From a housing consumption perspective, these changes opened new housing opportunities for some households, while creating new housing constraints for others. Applying Clapham's housing pathways framework, we explore how the transformation, as well as its legacies, were experienced by fourteen older women living alone in Poznań, a big city in Poland. Through in-depth interviews with a carefully selected and relatively diverse sample, this paper attempts to present a nuanced view of the impact of the transformation on the women's housing pathways over time. We identify four pathways related to changes in housing consumption: self-made homeowners, accidental homeowners, pushed in precarious private renting, and 'saved' by municipal senior housing. By examining these women's pathways, we aim to make sense of their unique experiences while providing a benchmark for evaluating transformations of housing systems.