The social demography of shared housing

"Despite the prevalence of shared housing in Australia, almost one-third of all households, little is known about who are the people who share accommodation, and why they do so. Using a sample of 4,560 households, this paper presents a demographic profile of shared dwellings and tests some of the prevailing assumptions about why certain groups may have a propensity to share. Some of the implications of the findings for existing housing policies are pointed out and directions for future research are suggested."