The Welfare State and the Gender Dissimilarity Index in Homelessness: a Comparison of Norway, Belgium and Poland
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Volume 8 | Issue 1 | 2021 | 11-23 Available online at www.housing-critical.com https://dx.doi.org/10.13060/23362839.2021.8.1.519 The Welfare State and the Gender Dissimilarity Index in Homelessness: A Comparison of Norway, Belgium and Poland Magdalena Mostowska Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies, University of Warsaw, Poland [email protected] Abstract: This article investigates the structural underpinnings of gender dissimilarities in homelessness from a comparative perspective. The Gender Dissimilarity Index is introduced as a simple measure for quantifying the unevenness of the distribution of men and women across the ETHOS-light categories. Three gendered aspects of the welfare state are considered and compared for Norway, Belgium, and Poland: employment and childcare, housing, and homelessness policies. Based on available data, it appears that the most uneven distribution of genders may indicate a combination of the promotion of the male breadwinner model and relatively broad support for people who are homeless, but also the shortage of affordable housing. A more gender-balanced homeless population may be the result of a combination of housing-led approaches and degenderising policies. However, a similar distribution may be attributed to states with implicitly genderising policies coupled with ‘traditional’ attitudes towards gender roles and a lack of adequate responses to women’s needs. Keywords: welfare state; housing regime; gender; homelessness. 11 Volume 8 | Issue 1 | 2021 | 11-23 Available online at www.housing-critical.com https://dx.doi.org/10.13060/23362839.2021.8.1.519 Introduction Across Europe men constitute the overwhelming majority of those who seek the help of low- threshold homelessness services. However, the proportion of men and women depending on social assistance due to housing problems varies significantly among different countries (Löfstrand and Quilgars 2016). It has been shown in various contexts that it is women who rely, more often than men, on informal social networks in order to secure housing (Mayock et al. 2015). However, researchers have so far failed to systematically explore the impact of welfare regimes and social policies on the gender imbalance in housing exclusion. Questions have been raised about the conceptualisation of homelessness offered by the European Typology of Homelessness and Housing Exclusion (ETHOS) and the collection of data on homelessness in general (Pleace and Hermans 2020). However, there is broad consensus that severe housing deprivation is a much wider phenomenon than sleeping in the streets. The thirteen ETHOS housing categories, ranging from living in public spaces, cars, and tents to insecure tenancies and unfit housing that can be hazardous to health (Edgar et al. 2004) are widely acknowledged and used. Little is known, however, about whether and, if so, why men and women are not evenly represented not only in the overall population of people who are homeless but also across various situations of homelessness and houselessness. This article investigates the structural underpinnings of gender dissimilarities in homelessness from a comparative perspective. It aims to explore the character of homelessness in relation to gender in three countries: Norway, Belgium, and Poland. The main question here is whether the (dis)similarities may be coupled with the welfare regimes of those countries. Obviously on the national level of comparisons there is a risk of salient oversimplifications. Still, it has been shown that welfare types are associated with levels of homelessness (Elsinga 2015), and that the proportion of women varies across national data (Löfstrand and Quilgars 2016). Another purpose of this article is to contribute to this area of comparative research by introducing the Gender Dissimilarity Index (GDI). Aside from the gender gap, i.e. the percentage of women among the homeless, the GDI would serve as another efficient measure that can be helpful in comparing the dissimilarity of gender representations in data. In light of the above, three aspects of welfare states and their intersections with gender are considered in the present analysis: (1) employment and childcare, (2) housing, and (3) homelessness responses. The article then surveys some welfare indicators and characteristics of homelessness responses in the three countries. Further, it presents available data on homelessness, calculates the GDI, and compares the countries in question. Finally, it concludes by examining the possible structural underpinnings of the GDI. Fuzzy types of welfare states The first and ground-breaking typology of Northwest European welfare regimes (Esping- Andersen 1990) has been challenged because it does not take into account variations around the world. Also, the main independent variable, which is the degree of de-commodification, i.e. the degree to which a household can uphold a socially acceptable standard of living independently of market participation, does not adequately explain the complexities of the welfare state. This distinction has also been disputed by feminist scholars, who have shown that 12 Volume 8 | Issue 1 | 2021 | 11-23 Available online at www.housing-critical.com https://dx.doi.org/10.13060/23362839.2021.8.1.519 these categorisations focus on the state and the market, and barely acknowledge the role of family and reproductive work (Orloff 1993). This problem was soon addressed by Esping- Andersen himself (1999, 2009) and a number of gender-focused typologies emerged (Saxonberg 2013). It has moreover increasingly been shown how complex the welfare arrangements within countries are. Not only are many states classified as ‘hybrid’ types but various policies within one country may pull in opposite directions producing ‘fuzzy sets’ of policies (Ciccia 2017). Many policies are linked, however, and their various dimensions intersect. For instance, labour market policies need to be looked from a gender perspective and seen at in relation to issues such as access to parental leave or formal childcare. Further, policies themselves are ‘gendering practices’ that, to a different degree, make subjects become men or women (Bacchi 2017). Most comparative research on gender and welfare states concerns employment and childcare. The ‘genderisation’ model, proposed by Saxonberg (2013), assesses policies by the degree to which they ‘eliminate gender roles’ (degenderise), provide strong incentives to adhere to ‘traditional’ gender roles (explicitly genderise), or reinforce existing gender divisions through a laissez-faire approach (implicitly genderise). Avoiding the risk of homelessness not only requires equal access to paid work but also the ability to escape a violent relationship and maintain an autonomous household (Orloff 1993: 319). This is a crucial characteristic of the welfare state in the context of homelessness since a large proportion of the women who experience homelessness have faced difficulties after ending a relationship and/or having experienced violence (Mayock et al. 2016). Degenderising policies are probably the policies best able to protect single parents and single women. The concept of housing regimes, the second element of analysis, also stems from the critique of the original welfare regime typology. Housing, the ‘wobbly pillar’ of the welfare state, has not supported the de-commodification argument convincingly enough and has not been included in the welfare regime typology (Malpass 2008; Stephens 2016). Despite criticisms, the simple dichotomy of housing regimes introduced by Kemeny (1995) remains influential in comparative housing studies. In the integrated regime described by Kemeny, a large share of the population live in rental housing stock and there is universal access to rental housing (public and private, both strictly regulated). In the second regime, homeownership dominates, and the small supply of public housing plays a marginal role. The question remains, however, to what extent such a crude distinction between housing regimes adequately explains the chances of the most vulnerable households to secure housing. Also, very little is known about the gendered effects of the two housing regimes. Finally, a number of dichotomous types of policies have been presented in homelessness research, which roughly refer to structural versus individual opposition: long-term responses vs emergency responses, the Housing First model vs the staircase model, rights-based vs needs- based approaches. There exists a four-component typology of homelessness services that takes into account the degree of housing provision and intensity of support: (1) Housing First: high intensity support in ordinary housing; (2) rapid rehousing without intensive additional support; (3) high intensity support offered in temporary accommodation; and (4) emergency services such as shelters that are focused on basic needs (Pleace et al. 2018). It would be difficult, however, to identify differences in gender-sensitivity between the types. Most individualised approaches would obviously be able to better cater to individual needs, but only as long as access criteria do not work against certain groups. For instance, high intensity support programmes may select people with complex needs (addiction and mental health problems) and 13 Volume 8 | Issue 1 | 2021 | 11-23 Available online at www.housing-critical.com https://dx.doi.org/10.13060/23362839.2021.8.1.519 leave behind those whose homelessness is primarily (still) an issue of poverty. Homelessness responses nevertheless