This thesis is a PhD by publication. It consists of an introductory chapter which sets the research in the context of the welfare regime literature. The literatures on household expenditure, food, housing and welfare regimes of relevance to the published papers are reviewed in the second chapter. This is followed by three published papers and a concluding chapter that provides a thematic integration. The first of the published articles, referred to as Paper One is “Household Size, Income and Expenditure on Food: The Case of Cyprus”, published in the Journal of Socio-Economics. This paper is based on an analysis of data on food from the author’s survey of Cypriot households. It addresses aspects of the Deaton-Paxson Paradox and provides evidence on expenditure on food and clothing in Cyprus that suggests an alternative perspective. It also raises additional questions that are addressed in Paper Three. “Home Ownership, Family and the Gift Effect: The Case of Cyprus”, is Paper Two, published in the Journal of Housing and the Built Environment. It is a paper on housing in Cyprus, also based on the author’s survey of household expenditure, and setting the analysis in the context of the literature on welfare regimes. This paper shows the importance of family in the provision of housing in Cyprus. The third of the articles, “Welfare Regime and Inter-Household Welfare Provision: The Case of Cyprus” is published in the Journal of European Social Policy. This paper is based on the author’s in-depth interviews with nine Cypriot households. It resolves many of the issues raised, and unable to be conclusively addressed, in Paper One. In essence it shows the importance of the extended, multi-household family in the preparation and consumption of food in Cyprus. The final chapter, providing a thematic integration, uses the welfare regime literature to show that Cyprus is in a variety of ways similar to other Southern European/Mediterranean countries. It draws together the findings of the three published papers to show the importance of family in the provision of food and housing in Cyprus, and in this context the extent to which family provision of food and housing constitutes a significant de-commodification. By this is meant the reduction of dependence of households on the market for significant elements of food consumption and housing acquisition; unlike in Esping-Andersen’s (1997) use of the concept of de-commodification, this is shown not to be the consequence of social policy.