“Our stories are different but our situations are the same”: gendered experiences finding housing
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the gendered nature of housing insecurity by investigating how gender affects women’s experience moving from transitional to market housing. By describing women’s pathways out of supportive or transitional housing support, the authors show how patriarchal forces in housing policies and practices affect women’s efforts to find secure housing. The authors argue that gender-neutral approaches to housing will fail to meet women’s needs.
Design/methodology/approach
This study explores the narratives from women accessing support services in Halifax, Canada. The first author conducted deep narrative interviews with women seeking to move from transition to market housing.
Findings
This research sheds light on the effects of gendered barriers to safe, suitable and affordable housing; how women’s experiences and expectations are shaped by these barriers; and, how housing-based supports must address the uniquely gendered experiences women face as they access market housing. In addition, this research reveals the importance of gender-responsive services that empower women facing a sexist housing market.
Originality/value
Little research has explored questions related to gender and housing among those seeking to move from transitional to marker housing, and existing research focuses on women’s housing insecurity as it relates to domestic violence. The sample of women included those having housing insecurity for a variety of reasons, including substance use and young motherhood.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Larissa Doran who worked diligently as a research assistant on this project. The authors also thank the women who participated in the research, including those who helped them make sense of the interview data in several group meetings and conversations.
Declaration of interest statement: The first author, Diane Crocker, was paid by the Home for Good project to do the interviews and write up a report. The coauthors wrote this paper as part of their academic work. Agency staff provided feedback on earlier drafts of this paper.
Funding: This work was supported by the Status of Women Canada.
Citation
Crocker, D. and Dej, E. (2024), "“Our stories are different but our situations are the same”: gendered experiences finding housing", Housing, Care and Support, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/HCS-11-2021-0033
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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