{"id":12624,"date":"2023-02-21T09:41:06","date_gmt":"2023-02-21T08:41:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.adeo.com\/?p=12624"},"modified":"2023-02-21T11:16:35","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T11:16:35","slug":"how-have-the-pandemic-and-lockdowns-changed-our-perspective-on-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adeo.com\/en\/news\/how-have-the-pandemic-and-lockdowns-changed-our-perspective-on-housing\/","title":{"rendered":"How have the pandemic and lockdowns changed our perspective on housing?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A contrasting panorama<\/span><\/h2>\n

In April 2020, an Insee study<\/a><\/strong> [The French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies] points to unequal confinement conditions depending on the type, size and number of people occupying the home. As such, nearly two-thirds of the French population live in a house with, for 95%, a garden. The remaining third live in flats with limited or no outdoor access. In addition, 5 million people live in over-occupied housing (mostly families with children) and 10 million live alone. The COCONEL<\/a><\/strong> study (coronavirus and lockdown) conducted by the Ined [French National Institute of Demographic Research] over the same period adds further insight. The French have on average 48 m\u00b2\/person, a surface area which has risen over recent decades. But one in ten households lived in overcrowded housing during the lockdown (compared to only 8% before the pandemic) and 11% of people have no outdoor access.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A change of perspective<\/span><\/h2>\n

For Monique Eleb<\/strong><\/a>, one of the main effects of lockdown on the use of housing lies in a form of heightened awareness: \u201cNobody had ever stayed inside the home for so long without being able to go out freely\u201d<\/em>.
\nThis experience gave rise to people wanting to do DIY and to reorganise the home. It also sparked a desire within many people to get away from it all. In reference to this, Monique Eleb recalls one of her credos, \u201cthe outside internalised\u201d: “I have been campaigning for forty years for flats to have an outdoor space so that occupants can see a piece of sky, observe the change in the seasons, have their hands in the earth, a relationship with nature. This was terribly lacking during lockdown for those without\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Forced cohabitation with sometimes detrimental effects<\/span><\/h2>\n

In one out of four households, the lockdown introduced a new living experience, with the constant presence of two members of the household and children. \u201cMany conflicts arose because people were getting in each other\u2019s way, recalls Monique Eleb. This brought to mind the moment when a person in a couple retires. All of a sudden, the other is there, all the time, the relationship status changes\u201d<\/em>.
\nAlthough numerous couples faced this situation together, 12% were considering breaking up at the end of the lockdown period (Ifop* study July 2021 for YesWeBloom.com) [*French Institute of Public Opinion].
\nBut the most significant element remains the dramatic increase in domestic violence, exacerbated by forced promiscuity in cramped housing that offers no means of escape: an increase of 400% in calls received by the dedicated line for victims, domestic violence, between 9 March and the week of 20 April, and an increase of 89% in calls received via 119, the national help line for children in danger.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When outside activities take place inside<\/span><\/h2>\n

For families with children, school at home represented a real challenge. Children of management executives were more likely to have a separate room to study in. But half of office employees and workers had to share a room with their children. As Monique Eleb points out, \u201cCertain families took on the task of home schooling quite easily, facilitated by their own level of culture and education. Others found themselves in distressing situations that will leave a mark\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The attitude to teleworking was also dependent on the living conditions in the home. \u201cBefore, when we worked at home from time to time, we could set up in a corner of the home, perhaps with a table on wheels and a few small adjustments, explains Monique Eleb. But with sustained teleworking, this was no longer possible, it was necessary to establish a permanent set up, ideally in a separate room. This transformed the organisation of many homes\u201d<\/em>. The researcher reminds us that the size of bedrooms in France represents an obstacle for this type of arrangement: \u201cbedrooms are on average 9m\u00b2, which is too small for placing a desk\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Some lessons to be learned from the lockdown experience<\/span><\/h2>\n

One of the primary observations involves the selection criteria for housing.
\nIn the past, the major criteria was the location. Nowadays, it is the luminosity in the home and the presence of an outdoor space. More globally, the layout of homes may change in the future, taking into account the lessons learned from the lockdown period.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Monique Eleb provides us with some recommendations:<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u25cf Reestablish a foyer in homes, to hang up coats and leave shoes,… and as such, create a kind of anteroom
\n\u25cf Abandon the day\/night division of spaces, which places certain rooms next to each other
\n\u25cf Have a room separate from the others, close to the front door, to accommodate grand-parents or home-help, etc.
\n\u25cf Put an end to the myth of the open-plan kitchen, which adds to the workload of women who, more often than not, do most of the cleaning.
\n\u25cf Have an outdoor space, which represents an additional room<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

To go further on this topic<\/span>
\n– \u201cLa maison des fran\u00e7ais\u201d [The French home] by Monique Eleb and Lionel Engrand, published by Mardaga (2020 – 286 p.)
\n– \u201cEnsemble et s\u00e9par\u00e9ment, des lieux pour cohabiter \u201c [Together and apart, spaces for cohabitation] by Monique Eleb and Sabri Bendim\u00e9rad, published by Mardaga (2018 – 396 p.)
\n– \u201cLogement contemporain, entre confort, d\u00e9sir et normes\u201d [Contemporary housing, comfort, desire and norms] by Monique Eleb and Philippe Simon, published by Mardaga (2013 – 358 p.)
\n– an article<\/a> quoting correspondents for Leroy Merlin Source in the press<\/p>\n

\n

* LEROY MERLIN Source, a network and resources<\/span>
\nSince its creation in 2005, the network for research on the home from LEROY MERLIN France conducts a number of projects with correspondents, associate researchers, research laboratories from universities and national colleges of architecture. Thanks to the expertise and power of its network which combines human and social sciences, design and artistic approaches, LEROY MERLIN Source endeavours to create and disseminate to the general public its original knowledge and unique perspectives on new ways of living in the home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A contrasting panorama In April 2020, an Insee study [The French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies] points to unequal confinement conditions depending on the type, size and number of people occupying the home. As such, nearly two-thirds of the French population live in a house with, for 95%, a garden. The remaining third […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12633,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adeo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adeo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adeo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adeo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adeo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.adeo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adeo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adeo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adeo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adeo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}