An intersectional analysis of the feminization of homelessness and mothers’ housing precarity

Abstract

A network of interlocking systems of racialized, classed, and gendered oppression contributes to the “feminization of homelessness.” Unequal and low pay, unpaid caregiving, lack of affordable housing, discrimination, a weak safety net, punitive welfare and public housing policies, and intimate partner violence (IPV) are among the many factors that contribute to women's homelessness. Despite their intersections, these factors are often considered in isolation. Arguing for movement away from single‐axis conceptualizations of women's homelessness, we offer an intersectional analysis of mothers’ pathways into homelessness that foregrounds structural inequalities, highlights relational power dynamics, and reveals multilevel intersections of identity and experience. Drawing on two complementary interview studies, we explore two interrelated pathways into homelessness: (1) IPV as a gendered, racialized, and classed experience that contributes to economic and housing precarity; and (2) intersections of weak and restrictive safety net programs with raced, classed, and gendered “discipline.” We trace how privilege and disadvantage cumulate across women's lives and how institutional and relational power intersect with common “shocks” (e.g., eviction, loss of employment). We attend closely to the racialized and gendered dynamics of economic abuse; how gender, race, class, and motherhood shape pathways into homelessness; and how these intersections inform institutional responses to economic and housing precarity.

The new housing precariat: experiences of precarious housing in Malmö, Sweden

“…This article aims to illustrate the consequences of the shift from a general welfare approach of housing to an individualized and neoliberal housing market, through an analytical approach to housing inequalities (Dorling, 2014;Madden & Marcuse, 2016;Rolnik, 2019) and the empirical, concrete, and material experiences of the 'new housing precariat' (Dorling, 2014, p. 16). As has been illustrated elsewhere, this vulnerability on the housing market is highly racialized (Desmond, 2016;Dorling, 2014;Roy, 2017) and gendered (Bullock et al, 2020;Samzelius, 2020). This article brings further knowledge about the lived experience of housing precariousness based on housing stories from Malm€ o, Sweden, where precarious housing situations have barely been researched.…”

Informal Modes of Governance: Negotiating Evictions and Housing Rights in Lisbon, Portugal

“…They can also have a fundamental role in shaping the forms that occupations of public housing can take (Esposito & Chiodelli, 2020). In addition, the personal biases and the everyday routines and practices of the work of council housing managers and other municipal employees, such as bailiffs, can significantly contribute to further exclusions and alienations (Baker, 2017;Bhan, 2014;Bullock et al, 2020;Motta, 2016).…”

Tracking the impact of COVID-19 in Victoria, Australia: Shocks, vulnerability and insurances among residents of share houses

“…In this paper, we consider COVID-19 as a disruptive event that has compromised the functioning of many households and precipitated multiple shocks. While less advantaged households are always more susceptible to housing shocks or negative life events ( Fahlberg et al, 2020 ), COVID-19 is exacerbating underlying inequalities ( Bullock et al, 2020 ; Gaynor & Wilson, 2020 ). We argue that underlying vulnerabilities are likely to increase the likelihood and intensity of shocks while access to individual, social and external insurances may serve protective functions by increasing an individual's ability to avoid or cope with shocks.…”

“…COVID-19 has precipitated household shocks globally with large increases in unemployment and underemployment ( OECD, 2021 ), increased rates of family violence ( Sharma & Borah, 2020 ) and widely reported mental health reductions ( Sher, 2020 ). While individuals and households might recover from a shock by drawing on the resources available to them, the compounding effects of multiple shocks, combined with intersecting experiences of vulnerability, often drives significant disadvantage ( Bullock et al, 2020 ).…”