Cash income is widely recognised as a deficient measure of income, as it takes no account of the contribution of net worth to consumption potential. Housing equity is a particularly important component of net worth. Comprehensive income measures incorporate housing equity by adding its...

Many countries have undergone a broad retreat from the use of indirect (supply) subsidies to meet low-income housing-affordability problems, shifting to direct subsidies often linked to means-tested income-maintenance systems. Although the reasons for this change of direction are well...