Introduction

Living through lockdown is particularly challenging for families who have children with autism. People may be disabled by their autism in different ways and to varying degrees (some with co-occurring conditions), thus experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic will have varied between people and families. This is not because of autism per se, but due to social, spatial, and economic inequalities between families. During lockdown, the home has been the primary location where these differences are lived and felt.

Drawing on research with London-based parents who have autistic children, this chapter highlights pre-existing housing inequalities which have exacerbated the challenges for many of managing the COVID-19 lockdowns (see also Tunstall, Chapter Two; Kayanan et al, Chapter Seventeen; Graham et al, Volume 1). The chapter raises issues of space, safety, and care in and out of the home. Learning from COVID-19 and in anticipation of future pandemics, it makes two recommendations. First, the appropriate allocation of social housing where necessary to families who have disabled children. Second, adequate financial and practical support for adult and young carers, who continue to bear the brunt of inadequate social care in the UK.

Disability, housing needs, and housing inequalities

Housing inequalities matter for children with autism and their families. Autism affects people across the socio-economic spectrum and from all ethnicities and nationalities, but some children and their families are more likely to be living in unsuitable housing than others. Housing data on families with disabled children are scant (Provan et al, 2016), however, figures suggest that while 19 percent of UK families live in poverty, 26 percent of households with a disabled child and 40 percent of households with a disabled adult and a disabled child live in poverty (Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), 2020: 57).

Living with a disability is expensive (JRF, 2020) and impacts on some disabled adults and carers’ abilities to work. Income has implications for housing options (social or private rented, homeownership) and housing size (larger properties and/or outdoor space tends to be more expensive). Since Right to Buy legislation (Housing Act, 1980) social housing availability has plummeted, pushing many into the private-rental sector (Shelter, nd). In England, 54 percent of socially renting households have at least one member who is disabled or has a long-term illness, compared with 23 percent of privately renting households and 31 percent of owneroccupier households.