Immigrant Women and Housing: A research agenda

1
Immigrant Women and HousingA research agenda

• Understanding the Deepening of the Feminization
  and Racialization of Poverty.
• VANCOUVER STATUS OF WOMEN

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The Feminization Racialization of Poverty

• Of women living in poverty today, there is an
  over-representation of immigrant, Aboriginal, and
  women of colour (Moore, 2003).
• We need data on immigrant women renters.
  Homelessness
• Immigrant women is rarely a variable in housing
  stats and policies literature.
• Canadian housing policies are market-based and
  privilege male-led families.

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In a market-based system

• security of housing is dependent on ones
  relationship to the labour market ? racialized
  women are secondary labour force doubly
  disadvantaged in the acquisition of secure
  housing.
• The quality of housing is determined by ones
  ability to pay.
• Power of landlord (owner) outbalances that of
  tenant (homeless).
• Has created an underclass of welfare recipients
  (64 to pay rent) and the homeless. Cycle of
  homelessness!
• Housing is a commodity not a right!

4
In a Male-led Family System

• The beneficiaries of housing policy are primarily
  men-led families
• Mother-led families have special needs that
  private housing market is unable to provide and
  public sector has failed to provide.
• Housing is a concept/tool for social control.
• Housing policies institutionalize and
  systemically discriminate against low-income
  immigrant women.

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Racialized Immigrant Women

• Are an enormous source of social capital and
  labour skills.
• Underpaid skills that dont match their financial
  responsibilities over their families (in Canada
  and/or back home). Income must be distributed
  between rent, food, bus fare, remittances.
• Work for training-wage or minimum income wage ? a
  problem when access to decent housing is
  determined by income.

6
Poverty Limits your Choices

• Homelessness is not an optionSize of family is
  larger than (Canadian) average fear of
  deportation removal of their children.
• Vulnerable to family violence inhuman working
  conditions poverty harassment (landlord).

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Recommendations

• Funding for Grassroots and/or Advocacy Groups who
  specialize at helping immigrant low-income women
  understand and defend their tenant rights.
• Settlement services help some find affordable
  (yet not decent) housing.
• Settlement service providers need training on
  gender-awareness. Multiple layers of oppression
  (wars, systematic colonialism, sexism, racism) in
  addition to current Canadian housing policies
  deepen poverty among immigrant/refugee women.

8
Finally

• Work more collaboratively and make research
• more encompassing.
• Involvement of grassroots women in research and
  decision-making processes of planning and policy
  development ? sustainable development.
• Governments agencies should be providing hosing
  reports in immigrant womens housing experiences.
• These agencies should consult with existing
  agencies on the status of racialized women.