Women as Users of Housing

Access to Decent Housing

In many countries, women predominate in certain types of low-income households (for example, in the United States and Great Britain, women are overrepresented in single-parent and single elderly households). As such, their access to adequate housing is greatly reduced. Female householders in the United States, for example, are the largest subgroup of the poorly sheltered population. According to housing and census statistics, female householders, both homeowners and renters, have a higher incidence of housing quality problems (i.e., physical adequacy of a dwelling, the extent of crowding, and the level of affordability) than the general population. Female householders occupy more than 40% of problem-ridden dwellings in the United States. Women are the fastest growing subgroups among the homeless, constituting between 15% and 20% of the total homeless population in 1997.

Inadequate housing conditions for women are even more striking in the cities and large urban centers of developing countries because of the high proportion of inadequate housing in general and because of women's central and complex roles in the household. Because of increased female migration from rural to urban areas in many developing countries, women's numbers are growing at a more rapid rate in urban centers than in the overall population. Women's role in housing is central because of their substantial responsibilities for the economic well-being of the household, the relevance of household location to women's employment opportunities, and the opportunity costs of women's time spent in obtaining urban services and participating in mutual and self-help schemes. Once again, urban women in developing countries are generally the poorest segment of the population. They are less well educated than their male counterparts, responsible for both managing the household and contributing to its income, disproportionately represented in informal-sector occupations, and have a propensity to be heads of households. Consequently, women rarely have equal rights or access to land and dwellings. They suffer additional burdens when water and fuel services are absent because of their traditional role in providing such services to their families.

Few reliable dates are available on women and urban housing. The difficulties encountered in collecting such data are compounded by the situation of these women. They are often not at home during working hours, and when they are at home, social mores often dictate that they not speak to surveyors.

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