H o u si n g N e w C a n a d i a n s R e se a r c h W o r k i n g G r o u p –
T o r o n to
DISCUSSION PAPER
Differential Incorporation and Housing Trajectories
of Recent Immigrant Households:
Towards a Conceptual Framework
by R.A. Murdie, A.S. Chambon, J.D. Hulchanski, C. Teixeira
March 1999
A discussion paper outlining the Housing new Canadians research
team's conceptual framework for analysing and understanding the
housing experience of newcomers.
Please forward any comments to Bob Murdie: [email protected]
Summary
In this paper we present a conceptual framework that was developed for assessing the
housing experiences of three recent immigrant groups in greater Toronto, the AfroJamaican, Somali and Polish newcomer communities. The general framework is based on
three analytical perspectives: the nature of institutional arrangements, processes of
differential incorporation and housing trajectories. These perspectives range over three
levels of analysis, macro (societal), mezzo (group), and micro (household). We place
particular emphasis on factors affecting the housing trajectories of immigrant households.
Our argument is that housing experiences at the micro level of the housing trajectory are
© Housing New Canadians Research Working Group – Toronto 1999
Differential Incorporation and Housing Trajectories
R.A. Murdie, A.S. Chambon, J.D. Hulchanski, C. Teixeira
page 2
the result of both macro level institutional arrangements and mezzo level differential
incorporation.
Housing
New Canadians Research
Working Group -
Toronto
Differential Incorporation and Housing Trajectories
R.A. Murdie, A.S. Chambon, J.D. Hulchanski, C. Teixeira
page 3
1. Introduction
The use of the notion career in reference to changes in the housing situation of
households is not new to housing research. Initially, the concept was linked to stages in
the life cycle and it was assumed that households generally follow a predefined housing
path through these stages. Increasingly, however, housing career, and the parallel notion
of housing trajectory, have been interpreted and utilized in a much broader fashion by
extending the life cycle concept to include a greater variety of household characteristics
(e.g., life cycle stage, occupation, income, and ethno-cultural background) that intersect
with each other over time and differentially affect patterns of housing consumption.
There is also increased recognition of the important role played by macro social and
economic factors in local housing market outcomes, encouraging or constraining
successful residential moves. It is within these complex societal dynamics that
households experience differential incorporation in local housing markets meaning that
different groups must adopt different strategies in an attempt to achieve their housing
preferences.
In this paper we review these conceptual issues relating to the housing options
and strategies of different types of households - their housing trajectories - within the
context of a study of the housing experiences of recent immigrants in Greater Toronto.
The major focus is the housing trajectory component of the study. We begin by briefly
outlining the background and research framework of the Housing Experiences of New
Canadians in Greater Toronto project, thereby placing the housing trajectory analysis in
the context of the larger research project. We then develop a general conceptual
framework incorporating three themes: institutional arrangements, differential
incorporation and housing trajectories. This is followed by a brief review of the housing
trajectory framework and some conceptual issues associated with housing trajectories.
We then outline the conceptual approach developed for this study focusing on a number
of factors affecting housing trajectories. Our framework is broader in perspective than
the usual conceptualization of housing trajectory and draws on a wide range of research
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New Canadians Research
Working Group -
Toronto
Differential Incorporation and Housing Trajectories
R.A. Murdie, A.S. Chambon, J.D. Hulchanski, C. Teixeira
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literature. Our research methodology is pluralistic, combining the collection of survey
data with the more qualitative narrative approach of the housing history of individual
households. The empirical component of the research is a comparative case study of
three immigrant groups in greater Toronto, the Afro-Jamaican, Somali and Polish
newcomer communities.
2. The Housing Experiences of New Canadians Project
The Housing Experiences of New Canadians in Greater Toronto is a participatory
research working group. It is a partnership between academic researchers and ethnic
based communities in greater Toronto. Relatively little is known about the housing
experiences of immigrants and refugees in Canada. There is a large body of literature on
various aspects of ethnicity and ‘race,’ both in Canada generally and Toronto more
specifically (see Driedger, 1996; Halli et al., 1990; and Satzewich, 1992 for examples)
but, until recently, little of it focused on housing and access to housing. During the
1990s, however, a number of studies have been undertaken in Canada focusing on
issues such as immigrants and housing tenure patterns, the role of discrimination in
accessing housing, and case studies of individual immigrant and refugee groups (e.g.,
Balakrishnan and Wu, 1992; Bernèche, 1990; Chisvin/Helfand and Associates, 1992;
Lapointe and Murdie, 1996; Novac, 1996; Opoku-Dapaah, 1995; Owusu, 1997; Ray, 1994;
Ray and Moore, 1991; Teixeira and Murdie, 1997. Also, see Beavis, 1995, for an
annotated bibliography).
Few of these studies, aside from Owusu’s (1997) examination of the residential
experiences of a sample of Ghanaian immigrants in Toronto and Novac’s (1996) in-depth
interviews with 22 minority immigrant women in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, deal
explicitly with the housing histories of Canadian immigrants. The present study extends
this research by comparing the settlement experiences of three immigrant groups in
Toronto. The three groups were chosen so as to have two visible minority groups
represented, the Afro-Jamaicans and Somalis, and one ‘non-visible’ ethnic group, the
recent wave of immigrants from Poland. These are all relatively large groups and
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Differential Incorporation and Housing Trajectories
R.A. Murdie, A.S. Chambon, J.D. Hulchanski, C. Teixeira
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representatives from each group serve on the project’s steering committee and
participated in the initial workshop sessions which defined this research project.
Jamaicans began to arrive in Toronto in the late 1960s and are still coming to
Canada, mainly Toronto, in large numbers. Between 1991 and 1993, more than 15,000
Jamaican immigrants arrived in the province of Ontario, a majority of whom probably live
in Toronto. In contrast to the Jamaicans, who comprise an ‘older’ immigrant group for
purposes of our study, the Somalis are a ‘recent’ visible minority group who started
arriving in Toronto in the late 1980s. It is estimated that 25,000 Somalis have resettled in
Canada, most in the Toronto area (Opoku-Dapaah, 1995). The most recent wave of
Polish immigrants also began arriving in the 1980s as part of the ‘Solidarity Wave’ who left
Poland when the economy deteriorated and political tensions increased. Like the
Jamaicans, the Poles have a long established community in Toronto with organizations
which newcomers can turn to for assistance. Almost 30,000 Poles came to Ontario
between 1991 and 1993, of which a majority probably settled in the Toronto area
(Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 1994). In contrast to those who arrived in the
1980s, however, most of these came as independent immigrants or were sponsored by
family members who were already in Canada.
The formal research activities of the project involve two stages, a set of focus
groups and a questionnaire survey of recent immigrants. In the focus, or discussion
group sessions, a series of open ended questions were asked about the housing
preferences of each immigrant group, the barriers encountered in the housing search
process, search strategies used to overcome the barriers encountered, and the
outcomes. The purpose of the focus groups was to explore issues that the researchers
were not familiar with and to identify in a preliminary way the types of experiences of
each group in Toronto’s housing market. The information was expected to be helpful for
the second stage of the research, the development of a questionnaire survey. It soon
became evident, however, that the focus group sessions provided useful information in
themselves. Thus, we extended the number of focus groups to nine (four Jamaican, four
Somali and one Polish) and decided to report in a formal way the information obtained
from the focus groups (Chambon et al., 1997; Murdie et al., 1996).
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New Canadians Research
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Differential Incorporation and Housing Trajectories
R.A. Murdie, A.S. Chambon, J.D. Hulchanski, C. Teixeira
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The questionnaire survey stage of the research focuses on an evaluation of the
housing experiences of a sample of recent immigrants over several moves using a
housing trajectory perspective. Unlike the focus groups, the emphasis is on individual
rather than group experiences. In particular, we want to determine whether there has
been an improvement in housing circumstances after each move focusing on several
major issues: the search process, difficulty of the search and the outcome in terms of
housing and community satisfaction. Consideration is also being given to discrimination in
Toronto’s housing system, harassment in rental housing, and women’s experience of
discrimination. We are examining the housing situation of a sample of new Canadians
who arrived in Toronto in the late 1980s and early 1990s and, in one of our three cases
(the Jamaicans), comparing this experience with an equal sample who have lived in
Toronto for a much longer period of time. In all cases we are considering respondents
who have made at least three moves as independent households.
3. Situating the Study in a General Conceptual Framework
Based on a review of the academic literature we developed a general conceptual
framework integrating three analytical perspectives: the nature of institutional
arrangements, processes of differential incorporation, and housing trajectories (Figure
1). Each perspective is identified by a specific level of analysis, both in social and spatial
terms. Institutional arrangements occur at the macro or societal level and include the
nature of local housing markets, educational facilities, labour markets and community
structures. The responses provided by these arrangements to the needs of new
immigrants and refugees are further shaped by the broader social, cultural, political and
economic nature of society as expressed in specific institutional policies and in the
practices of various gatekeepers. It is these institutions and gatekeepers that affect
opportunities and constraints in local housing markets and therefore the integrative or
exclusionary nature of these markets. The fact that recently arrived immigrants and
refugees are new to a particular society and geographic location means that there are
likely to be at least some problems. The likelihood of problems - that is, the likelihood that
the existing societal institutions may not adequately accommodate the housing needs of a
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Differential Incorporation and Housing Trajectories
R.A. Murdie, A.S. Chambon, J.D. Hulchanski, C. Teixeira
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new group - increases when the new group(s) are of different ethnic, cultural, racial and
linguistic origins than the majority in the country they are moving to.
Differential incorporation, a concept developed by Smith (Kuper and Smith, 1969)
and adopted by Henry (1994) as the main theoretical basis of her study of Toronto’s
Afro-Caribbean community, occurs at the mezzo or group level. According to Henry
(1994, pp. 16-17), differential incorporation refers to the “ . . . unequal treatment and
differential access [of ethnic and racial minorities] to the economic, social, political and
cultural rewards in a plural society.” In a more general sense, Henry (1994, p. 11) uses
the concept to “ . . . provide a framework for the understanding of the position of
Caribbean people in Canadian society.” The idea of differential incorporation has also
been used by Breton et al. (1990, p. 9) whose first objective in a study of seven ethnic
groups in Toronto was to
“ . . . describe and analyze the variations among several ethnic groups in the degree and
pattern of incorporation in the larger society.” Incorporation is measured primarily by
equal access to the basic needs of society but ethnic identity and retention, ethnic
residential segregation and collective political action are also important. Incorporation
usually takes place over a relatively long time period and is highly variable by ethnic
group.
Incorporation is a two-way process that involves the thoughts and feelings of
members of the ethnic group as well as the thoughts and feelings of the host society and
its social, cultural, economic and political institutions (Gordon, 1964 cited in Henry, 1994,
p. 14). Two sets of boundaries are involved, one established by the dominant group or
host society and another by the groups seeking full membership and equal participation in
that society. The boundaries established by the dominant group prevent successful
incorporation if they deny equal access to the goods and resources of society. Similarly,
ethnic groups can create barriers if their cultural behaviours and values hinder integration
and are perceived as such by the host society. Thus, Caribbeans in Toronto are
confronted with racism, especially in employment and housing, which shapes and forms
much of their life in Canada. However, Caribbean people also bring with them cultural
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Differential Incorporation and Housing Trajectories
R.A. Murdie, A.S. Chambon, J.D. Hulchanski, C. Teixeira
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patterns, such as single motherhood, that to some extent inhibit their integration into
Canadian society (Henry, 1994, p. 15).
In addition to the degree of ethnic incorporation in social, economic and political
structures, the way in which ethnic groups use their ethnic identity or solidarity as
‘cultural capital’ in overcoming differential incorporation is important (Breton et al., 1990, p.
5). Retention of ethnic heritage can be both an asset and a liability in dealing with the
problems of differential incorporation. Ethnic residential segregation, for example, results
in ethnic enclaves that can assist newcomers in becoming established in unfamiliar
environments, or in a more negative way, can reinforce the persistence of social
inequalities.
In the specific context of the Housing Experiences of New Canadians study,
differential incorporation refers to the premise that many groups of new Canadians are
likely to experience multiple aspects of disadvantage resulting from macro level
institutional barriers (Figure 2). These barriers are further reinforced by the way in which
different groups are socially constructed on the basis of their ethnicity, ‘race’ (defined
mainly as skin colour), class (socio-economic status) and gender. To date, most of the
literature in this area has focused on income differentials and educational and
employment opportunities. As indicated in the top boxes of Figure 2, we have added
adequate and affordable housing as another basic societal need. Indeed, it could be
argued that immigrants first seek a place to live and a local community for their families.
Subsequently, they and their children enter the educational system for language training,
schooling and job training, and finally, their experiences with training and schools (in
addition to education and skills from their home country) influence work, employment and
level and source of income. Although this may be the general scenario, the links between
factors need not be as linear as portrayed above. Thus, we have used double-headed
arrows in Figure 2 to convey the potential complexity of these relationships. As further
noted in the middle box of Figure 2 immigrants, throughout the initial period of settlement,
seek information and services from a variety of communities and institutions and also
create communities and institutions to better serve their needs. The information and
services provided by these sources enhance opportunities for new immigrants and act
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Differential Incorporation and Housing Trajectories
R.A. Murdie, A.S. Chambon, J.D. Hulchanski, C. Teixeira
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as a cushion to soften the full impact of differential incorporation. In the Canadian context,
however, these institutions, especially small ethno-specific organisations, have
experienced a substantial withdrawal of funds during the past few years with the result
that their ability to provide services has been severely curtailed.
In contrast to the group focus of differential incorporation, the notion of a housing
trajectory occurs at the level of the individual household and refers to the social mobility,
especially in a housing context, of the individual or household over its life course in a
particular society (Figure 3). As indicated at the top of Figure 3, our argument is that
housing experiences at the micro (household) level of the housing trajectory are the
result of both macro (societal) level institutional arrangements and mezzo (group) level
differential incorporation. The rest of Figure 3 addresses the interface between structural
constraints and opportunities and the microprocesses of preferences, choices, decisionmaking and outcomes at the household level. While this model was developed
specifically for the Housing Experiences of New Canadians research project it has its
roots in a wide variety of literature and also draws from earlier formulations of housing
access by Siksiö and Borgegård (1990) and Özüekren (1992).
From left to right in the diagram the major features include:
§
Household Characteristics, Preferences and Resources: The sets of
contextual or background factors that potentially mediate the outcomes of the
housing search process.
§
Filters in the Housing Search Process: The housing system and societal
realities that exist at the macro and mezzo levels and may affect the housing
outcomes of individual households.
§
Housing Search Process: The decision making process that households go
through in searching for a place to live.
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Differential Incorporation and Housing Trajectories
R.A. Murdie, A.S. Chambon, J.D. Hulchanski, C. Teixeira
§
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Outcome of the Housing Search Process: The outcome of the housing search
process as expressed in access to housing and the evaluation of housing for
specific households over time.
And at the bottom of the diagram:
§
Housing Trajectories: Additional moves that are made as a result of
household, dwelling, community or societal changes. It is this feature that
adds a dynamic component to the model. As indicated by the arrow
households cycle through the model, often under new personal and
institutional circumstances, with the hope of improving their housing situation
following each move.
Each feature is discussed in more detail in Sections 4 and 5. In Section 4 emphasis is
placed on the general notion of housing trajectory while in Section 5 attention turns to a
more detailed discussion of factors affecting the housing trajectories of households,
especially recent immigrant households. It is important to note that the diagram has gone
through several iterations based on further considerations of the literature, discussions
between the academic researchers and the ethnic based community partners of the
Housing Experiences of New Canadians project, and findings from the focus group
sessions.
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Differential Incorporation and Housing Trajectories
R.A. Murdie, A.S. Chambon, J.D. Hulchanski, C. Teixeira
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4. Changes in the Conceptualization of Housing Trajectory
Housing trajectory is a term used to describe the way in which households change their
housing consumption as they move through the life cycle, or more generally, the life
course. The term is used interchangeably in the literature with housing career and
housing pathway (e.g., Biterman, 1993; Gober, 1992, pp. 175-80; Payne and Payne,
1974). There is also a general view that housing trajectories take place within the
broader context of macro level societal processes. As Mulder (1993, p. 133) notes:
“Housing careers are parallel to and interwoven with family, employment, and
other ‘life careers’ which structure experiences over the life course. They, of
course, are shaped by prevailing market conditions, including the influence of public
policies.”
It is widely assumed that individuals [or households] take distinct steps during the life
course to improve their housing circumstances. Michelson (1977) emphasises the notion
of a ‘progressive cycle’ whereby households move incrementally towards an ideal
dwelling, which in North America is assumed to be a single family house in the suburbs.
Kendig (1990), however, adds the important observation that individuals can move
‘upwards’, ‘sideways’ or ‘downwards’ when pursuing housing trajectories. Empirical
studies, especially in Britain and the United States, have determined that recently
divorced single parents are particularly vulnerable to ‘downwards’ moves (e.g., Crowe
and Hardey, 1991; Gober, 1992, p. 177).
The conceptualisation of housing trajectory has changed over time. Initially, the
idea of housing trajectory was linked closely to stage in the life cycle leading to
expectations about residential moves as households advanced from one stage of the life
cycle to another. Recently, however, housing trajectory has been linked to the more
general notion of life course. The life cycle concept is based on the idea that families
pass through a series of stages based on characteristics such as age, marital status,
and family size. Early formulations of the life cycle notion assumed that these stages
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Differential Incorporation and Housing Trajectories
R.A. Murdie, A.S. Chambon, J.D. Hulchanski, C. Teixeira
page 12
occurred in linear progression from birth to death. According to this scenario, individuals
(and families) after leaving the family home pass through the following stages: (a) prechild (b) child bearing (c) child rearing and child launching (d) post-child and (e)
widowhood or later life (e.g., Foote et al, 1960). It was further assumed that each life
cycle stage would result in a different set of housing needs and that a shift to a new
stage in the cycle would trigger off a change in housing requirements and the likelihood
of a move (Clark and Dieleman, 1996, Figure 2.2; Short, 1996, p. 195). For example,
following the first move from the family house space needs are likely minimal and a small
rental apartment near the centre of the city may be adequate. Following marriage and the
birth of a child space needs increase and the family may move to a larger house in the
suburbs. Finally, once the children have left home the family likely moves again in order to
reduce housing consumption and the costs of maintenance.
The conventional life cycle model may be useful in identifying the basic triggers of
residential mobility but as a number of authors have noted there are several alternative
paths through the basic model (e.g., Kendig, 1990; Robson, 1975, p. 25; Short, 1996, p.
195). For example, some people may remain single throughout their lifetime, others
divorce and either remarry or remain single, while others become single parents without
marrying or cohabiting. In other cultural contexts several generations may live together in
the same household as an extended family. Increases in the number of people living
alone, single parent households and voluntary childlessness or the postponement of child
bearing attest to these changes (Clark and Dieleman, 1996, pp. 30-31)
The reality that many households do not assume a predefined path in their
housing career and that other life events, in addition to household structure, are
potentially important in housing decisions has led many researchers to conclude that
housing trajectory, as related to changes in family or household structure, should be
interpreted in a much broader context (e.g., Clark and Dieleman, 1996; Kendig, 1990).
The argument is that individuals and households move through a variety of trajectories
(e.g., life cycle/age, occupation, and income) that intersect with each other and impact on
housing consumption. The intersection of these trajectories is also closely related to the
notion of event history. Events trigger changes, including residential moves. The latter
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Differential Incorporation and Housing Trajectories
R.A. Murdie, A.S. Chambon, J.D. Hulchanski, C. Teixeira
page 13
also incorporates the idea of strategies used by individual households in searching for a
new place to live. In addition, this perspective places considerable emphasis on the
broader economic, social, and housing market contexts within which these events take
place and which open up opportunities and introduce constraints in the search process.
The housing trajectory concept captures the various permutations of the housing
situations of households, and documents the actual pathway of multiple moves made by
these households. A trajectory approach is consistent with the life experiences and
changing situations of immigrant households who often in a short period of time go
through a process of settlement and adjustment with various changes in household
composition, educational background, employment conditions, and income.
5.
Factors Affecting the Housing Trajectories of Households
5.1 Household Characteristics, Preferences and Resources
There are a variety of contextual or background factors that potentially affect the
outcomes of the housing search process, especially by new immigrants and refugees.
The first is characteristics of the household. The emphasis is on households, rather than
individuals, because the household is the basic consumption unit in housing analysis. As
noted by Anderson, Bechhofer and Gershuny (1994), households are collectivities with
their own internal social, economic and political dynamics who must also interact with the
external world. In that sense, each household has a strategy for using its available
resources so as to maximise the range of choice it has in meeting its needs.
Household characteristics affect both the preference of immigrant households for
different types of housing and the resources that these households have available to
access housing. Different households also have different inherent characteristics which
affect the range of housing choice that is available to them in the external world. Three
broad types of characteristics are identified in Figure 3, based on theoretical and
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Differential Incorporation and Housing Trajectories
R.A. Murdie, A.S. Chambon, J.D. Hulchanski, C. Teixeira
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empirical discussions of the basic divisions of society in contemporary cities (Shevky and
Bell, 1955; Johnston, 1971, Chapter 1; Davies and Herbert, 1993). These types of
characteristics include socio-economic status (educational achievement, employment
status, income and source of income), family status and life style (life style, household
type, and household size), and ethnicity, ‘race’, and migrant status (place of birth, ‘race’,
ethnic origin, immigration status, length of residence in Canada/Toronto, and attitudes
towards return migration). Gender is also important, but primarily as a factor defining
household type (female-headed households), rather than as a variable by itself.
As noted in Section 4, it has normally been assumed that individual or household
preferences for housing (tenure, structure, size, location) are closely related to family
status and life style characteristics and that these preferences change as households
pass through various stages of the life cycle (Bourne, 1981, pp. 135-37; Clark and
Dieleman, 1996, pp. 28-29; Rossi, 1955). For example, young adults living alone or as a
couple without children are likely to prefer a small rental apartment unit close to the
downtown core of the city while households with school-aged children are assumed to
prefer a more spacious single family dwelling in a suburban location.
Much less is known about ethnic preferences for housing and it may be difficult to
generalise because of the diversity of immigrants and refugees who have entered
Canada during the post World War Two period. Immigrants prior to the early 1960s were
primarily from British and other European backgrounds while the majority of Canada’s
recent immigrants have come from Asia, Latin and Central America, the Caribbean and
Africa. Recent evidence, based on focus group sessions with representatives of
immigrant agencies in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, indicates that home ownership
is an important goal for most immigrant families and a single family house is the desired
housing form (Lapointe Consulting and Murdie, 1995, pp. 27-41; Lapointe Consulting and
Murdie, 1996, p. 8).
For some groups, such as Southern Europeans, Chinese and South Asians, home
ownership is seen as a desirable goal based on norms in their home countries, often
reflecting the fact that many of these immigrants formerly lived in small villages where
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Differential Incorporation and Housing Trajectories
R.A. Murdie, A.S. Chambon, J.D. Hulchanski, C. Teixeira
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owning land and having a house of one’s own is highly valued. For others, home
ownership may be seen as a means of creating a sense of stability in their new country,
a way of overcoming discrimination in the rental housing market or a “symbolic affirmation
of social membership” (Balakrishnan and Wu, 1992, p. 392, ). The desire for home
ownership and a single detached dwelling also reflects the fact that immigrant families
tend to be larger than Canadian born families and therefore need more space than is
usually available in a rental apartment.
Household characteristics also affect the resources that households have
available to access housing. Resources assist households in overcoming barriers to
housing access and in interacting with different actors and gatekeepers in the housing
market (Siksö and Borgegård, 1990). Siksiö and Borgegård (1990, p. 29) and Özüekren
(1992, p. 25) identify two major categories of resources that are internal to the household
- material and cognitive. Of the material resources noted in Figure 3, level of income and
source of income are the most important. For lower income households, including many
new immigrants and refugees, lack of income is compounded by the level of income
required by landlords to avoid risk of non-payment. Many landlords in the Toronto area
use a rent-to-income ratio of about 30 percent as a ‘rule of thumb’. If the ratio is greater
than this measure the potential tenant might be refused (Hulchanski, 1994). Some
landlords are also hesitant to rent to new immigrants because of the lack of assurance of
a stable income or because the source of income is social assistance. When the major
source of income is social assistance, landlords suspect that renters will default on their
rent and that they will generally lower the social status of their apartment building.
Cognitive skills such as language facility and general knowledge of the housing
market are also important resources for the household when searching for a place to
live. Language is an initial barrier for non-English speaking immigrants. Finding housing
and negotiating tenancy arrangements requires mastery of the language. The language
barrier includes various degrees of fluency, from not speaking English at all, to not being
able to understand well, to concern about not being understood. Language can also be a
barrier in more subtle ways such as accent. In addition to language, knowledge of
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Canadian institutions and cultural practices can be important for the newcomer when
searching for housing.
As noted in Section 3, information and services from various communities and
institutions can also help new immigrants access appropriate housing. While not strictly
household resources, and certainly not resources internal to the household, awareness
and use of these networks and services is often necessary for a successful housing
search. These resources include strong networks of contacts (friends and relatives) as
well as formally organised community agencies and government organisations staffed by
knowledgeable individuals. In Canada (and Toronto) most of these services are provided
by a wide range of non-governmental organisations. Many are relatively small and ethnospecific, others began in this way but have emerged into larger organisations serving a
variety of populations while still others are quite large, not ethno-specific, and serve
immigrants as part of a broader mandate. As an outcome of the advice that they offer,
community and government networks and services can also have the effect of
reinforcing the residential concentration of specific immigrant groups in certain areas of
the city and in certain types of dwellings. These resources, especially government
organisations such as public housing agencies, can also play an important gatekeeping
role in assisting or constraining immigrants in their search for suitable and affordable
housing.
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5.2 Filters in the Housing Search Process
Throughout their search for housing, immigrants face two major filters: housing system
realities and existing societal realities. In the Toronto area, for example, opportunities for
housing occupancy vary widely. Although almost sixty percent of the housing stock is
owner occupied, the housing opportunities for most lower income immigrants are
restricted to the rental market. About half the rental stock is purpose-built apartments in
the private rental sector, while the rest is distributed among rented houses, apartments in
houses, rented condominium units, and social housing (Metropolitan Toronto Planning
Department, 1993, p. 13). Vacancy rates are very low, less than one percent through
most of the 1980s, increasing to about two percent in the early 1990s, and then falling
back to previous levels.
Social housing accounts for a relatively small proportion of the overall total
housing stock in the Toronto area. Less than ten percent is in the non-profit and
government-owned social housing sector, of which only two-thirds is rent-geared-toincome. Because of the long waiting lists for social housing many new immigrants find
rental accommodation in relatively poorly maintained buildings at the lower end of the
private rental market (Murdie, 1992). Black households, who have been particularly
affected by difficulties in Toronto’s tight private rental market because of income
constraints, various forms of discrimination (gender, family composition and ‘race’) and
low vacancy rates, are strongly over-represented in rent-geared-to-income social
housing (Hulchanski, 1993, 1994; Murdie, 1994).
As indicated in Figure 3, these housing system realities are shaped to a
considerable extent by actors in the housing market, often identified as urban managers
(the public sector) and gatekeepers (the private sector). The concept of managers and
gatekeepers as key groups who control access to scarce resources, including housing,
was first developed by Pahl (1975) and subsequently elaborated upon in a number of
case studies. Private landlords and public housing agencies are important filters in the
rental sector and real estate agents and mortgage lenders are important in the home
ownership sector. A particular issue, especially in the British context, is the extent to
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New Canadians Research
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Differential Incorporation and Housing Trajectories
R.A. Murdie, A.S. Chambon, J.D. Hulchanski, C. Teixeira
page 18
which housing managers grade tenants and assign those who are viewed most
negatively, including immigrants, to the lowest quality developments (e.g., Gray, 1976;
Henderson and Karn, 1987). Another issue related to immigrant access to public housing
is the imposition of residency rules, whereby newcomers are barred from the waiting list
for housing until they have lived in the community for a certain number of years (e.g., Rex
and Moore, 1967; Bowes, McCluskey and Sim, 1990)
Our research is also based on the premise that many new Canadians are likely to
experience disadvantage from four key factors which may or may not be interconnected:
‘race’, ethnicity, class, and gender. A starting assumption is that “who gets what where”
out of the housing system depends in part on the social construction of these variables
or the meanings that society gives to them. These meanings can become social barriers
to accessing appropriate and affordable housing if one group is viewed more favourably
than another. This is particularly problematic for people of different racial backgrounds
than the host society.
5.3 Housing Search Process
Modeling the housing search process has a long tradition in the urban studies literature
beginning with the classic formulation by Brown and Moore (1970). Brown and Moore
(1970) put particular emphasis on ‘place utility’ or relative level of satisfaction with a
specific location, including the dwelling and the neighbourhood. When dissatisfaction with
the current location reaches a point of unbearable stress the household identifies the
desirable qualities of a new location and begins the process of searching for another
dwelling. In this sense, both push and pull factors are involved in the decision to search
for a different residence. The search entails selecting information sources, identifying
possible vacancies and assessing these alternative locations. The Brown-Moore model
has been criticised for the excessive emphasis given to choice in the housing market, a
criticism that is particularly relevant for many new immigrant groups. Also, in subsequent
empirical studies relatively little emphasis has been given to the role of ethnicity or race in
shaping the housing search process. Recent studies of racial differences in the search
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for housing in the United States indicate that in the home ownership market blacks are
often provided with less information than whites and therefore engage in a much more
constrained search (Farley, 1996; Newburger, 1995). Much less is known about the
search process by ethnic and racial minorities in the rental market.
The search process outlined in Figure 3 is based on the Brown-Moore model but
with greater emphasis on the strategies used to find a place to live and the barriers
encountered in searching for a new location. Strategies, according to Anderson,
Bechhofer and Gershuny (1994, p. 21), are:
“ . . . general prescriptions which actors [households] take into account when
making plans within structural constraints. Actors may not themselves refer
specifically to strategies; we infer their existence from the accounts they give of
their plans.”
The concept of strategy has been advanced in housing studies as a way of
understanding the decision making process of individuals and households in acquiring
housing (Crowe and Hardey, 1991; Pickvance and Pickvance, 1994). As with the BrownMoore model, however, there is continued debate about the utility of the concept,
especially for households with the fewest choices in society (Crowe, 1989). In a more
positive sense, Crowe (1989, p. 20) notes that:
“ . . . some of the most interesting situations (for sociologists) are those where
strategies are developed under conditions of severe constraint, and in this way
the investigation of strategies promises to have a valuable contribution to make to
the study of structures, as well as to much of the rest of sociology besides.”
In Figure 3, the general strategies prior to a specific housing search are framed
within the context of (1) motives, circumstances and preferences, (2) the options
considered and (3) the information sources or strategies used to find housing. Individual
housing searches involve the selection of information sources, the identification of
vacancies, the assessment of vacancies and negotiations with landlords (or sellers). For
many immigrant groups, especially those who face major problems of discrimination, the
process of looking for and locating a suitable place to live is difficult. Indeed, the
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Differential Incorporation and Housing Trajectories
R.A. Murdie, A.S. Chambon, J.D. Hulchanski, C. Teixeira
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identification and assessment of vacancies for some households within these groups
may not automatically lead to negotiation with a landlord or seller.
An important component of the household search process, as conceptualised in
Figure 3, is the constraints or barriers that new immigrants and refugees face in their
search. From the focus group findings we identified ten major barriers that affect
access to housing by recent Polish, Jamaican and Somali immigrants in the Toronto area
(Figure 4). Based on the literature concerning ethno-cultural barriers the barriers have
been divided into two major categories, primary and secondary (Mamman, 1996). Primary
barriers, including skin colour and gender, are virtually impossible to change while
ethnicity, culture and religion are difficult to alter. These barriers are socially constructed
in the sense that they are given meanings by larger society. In contrast, some secondary
barriers such as language and knowledge of institutions and culture, can be changed
and often do change over time. These are barriers over which the individual or household
has some control. Some immigrants and refugees, however, are more successful than
others in overcoming these barriers. In part, this is because some groups have a wider
range of support systems available to them in the Toronto area. A further set of
secondary variables such as employment opportunities and level of income are structural
variables which may change through time but over which individuals do not have as
much control.
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5.4 Outcome of the Housing Search Process
The final box in Figure 3 details the outcome of the housing search process. The first
section, access to housing, simply records the fact that the household has found a place
to live. This is the physical shelter component of housing - housing as a roof over one’s
head. For some immigrant groups, this outcome may have been relatively easy but for
others the process is likely much more difficult, largely because of discrimination in the
housing market and the numerous rejections that result from this. The nature of the
dwelling and its surroundings are also important in determining the relative satisfaction of
the household with the house as home (the physical and social quality of the living
space) and with the neighbourhood and community (the newcomer’s sense of belonging
and satisfaction with resources in the local area). Relative level of satisfaction will also
depend on the extent to which the dwelling and its surroundings match the expectations
and preferences of the household as set out and modified through the search process.
This theme is elaborated upon in the second section of this box where it is stressed that
housing is more that just a place to live but also involves the concepts of home and
community. As Marcuse (1987, p. 232) notes:
“A decent, a humane, housing system must couple shelter with security, with
warmth and independence, with living space and space to grow for children and
couples and older people, with nurturing and refuge and support, with
independence and protection and recreation, with access to work and culture,
with good relations with neighbours and strangers.”
To date, most studies of the meaning of home and community have been
conducted in the United States among married couples with young children living in
suburban middle class neighbourhoods. Concepts such as attachment to home and
community, the ideal home, neighbourliness, and the preferred home area are likely to
differ between neighbourhoods within the city and between ethnic and racial groups. As
Sommerville (1996) notes, based on his study of Afro-Caribbeans in Manchester, the
experience and perception of home can have a variety of meanings based on a hierarchy
of group identity ranging from the current dwelling (household), to neighbourhood or
community (family and friends), to country of origin (shared ancestry). These meanings
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Differential Incorporation and Housing Trajectories
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can also change over time depending on varying degrees of attachment with dwelling,
neighbourhood and country of origin.
6. Conclusion
In this paper we have outlined a conceptual framework for designing and
undertaking a study of the housing experiences of new Canadians. In doing so, we have
revisited a wide set of previous literature and developed a framework based on three
perspectives: the nature of institutional arrangements, processes of differential
incorporation, and housing trajectories. These perspectives range over three levels of
analysis from macro (societal), to mezzo (group), to micro (household). Each level
incorporates social and spatial points of view. The discussion has focused particularly
on the circumstances of recent immigrants, a group with particular needs for whom the
housing search is often a very complex process. Despite the importance and changing
nature of immigration in Canada relatively little research has been undertaken, until
recently, on ethnic and racial differences in accessing suitable and affordable housing.
We have not discussed the different methodologies that have been used to
assess housing trajectories and their outcomes. Two main research strategies have
been adopted. In some instances emphasis is placed on the transition between different
tenure statuses (e.g., rental to home ownership), relying on social survey data and
statistical models to measure the relative importance of variables that potentially intersect
to trigger a change in tenure (e.g., Biterman, 1993; Clark and Dieleman, 1996; Mulder,
1993). In other studies, survey data or in-depth interviews using a life history approach
have been used to track the housing path of households, the strategies and resources
they use, the obstacles they face, and the outcomes achieved (e.g., Forrest and Murie,
1987; Murie and Mooney, 1995; Sarre, Phillips and Skellington, 1989; Wainwright, Murie
and MacEwan, 1994).
In this study we are using complementary approaches in a face-to-face
questionnaire survey administered to a sample of sixty households from each immigrant
group (Polish, Jamaican and Somali). First, a combination of closed and open ended
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page 23
questions will be used to develop a summary of their housing circumstances before
coming to Canada and their housing situation in Toronto. A core component of this section
of the questionnaire is a grid which will be used as a framework for collecting information
about the search for three residences - the first residence, the one immediately before
the current one, and the current residence. The information will include a brief summary
of each of the three moves, some details about how the search was undertaken and the
ease or difficulty of each search, and the satisfaction with the housing they found and
the neighbourhood in which the house is located. Second, for a subsample of twenty
households in each group, we will use a qualitative ethnographic approach to understand
in more detail for two housing searches (the first and the most recent) the strategies that
were used by each household - how they searched for housing, the difficulties they
encountered and the kinds of solutions they worked out. In addition to providing
complementary sets of information, these two approaches will enable us to evaluate the
advantages and disadvantages of pre-coded questions versus an in-depth discussion of
the housing experiences of New Canadians.
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Differential Incorporation and Housing Trajectories
R.A. Murdie, A.S. Chambon, J.D. Hulchanski, C. Teixeira
page 24
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Figure 1
Institutional Arrangements, Differential
Incorporation and Housing Trajectories:
A General Conceptual Framework
Levels of
Analysis
(Social and
Macro:
Societal
Level
Mezzo:
Group
Level
Micro:
Household
Level
The Nature of
Institutional
Arrangements
Processes of Differential
Incorporation
Lack of Equal Access to the
Basic Needs of Society
Housing Trajectories
The Changing Housing Situation
of Individual Households over
Time
Research Objective
Comparative Case Studies
of the Housing Experiences
of Immigrant
Households
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Figure 2
Processes of Differential Incorporation of
Immigrant Groups
HOUSING
EDUCATION
EMPLOYMENT
INCOME
Adequate and
Affordable
Housing
Language
Schooling
Job Training
A Job that
Matches
Education
and Training
Level and
Source of
Income
IMMIGRANT SETTLEMENT ASSISTANCE
• I nformation and Help from Personal Networks
• Services from Community Resources
• Creation of New Communities and Institutions
DIFFERENTIAL INCORPORATION
Lack of Equal Access to the Basic Needs and Rewards of Society
Key Factors: Ethnicity, ‘Race’, Class and Gender
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Figure 3
Factors Affecting the Housing Trajectories of Households
INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS (MACRO SOCIETAL LEVEL) AND DIFFERENTIAL INCORPORATION (MESO GROUP LEVEL)
HOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICS,
PREFERENCES AND RESOURCES
FILTERS
IN THE
HOUSING SEARCH PROCESS
HOUSING
HOUSING
REALITY
HOUSEHOLD
CHARACTERISTICS
SOCIO-ECONOMIC
STATUS
Education
Employment Status
Income
Source of Income
FAMILY STATUS
AND LIFE STYLE
Household Type
Household Size
Life Style
ETHNCITY, ‘RACE’
AND MIGRANT
STATUS
Place of Birth
Race/Ethnicity
Immigration Status
Length of Residence
in Canada/Toronto
Re-migration
HOUSEHOLD
PREFERENCES
Tenure
Structure
Size
Location
HOUSEHOLD
RESOURCES
INTERNAL
Material
Income/Wealth
Source of Income
Cognitive
Language
Skills/Knowledge
COMMUNITY
Ethnic
Non-Ethnic
GOVERNMENT
SYSTEM
REALITIES
HOUSING
STOCK:
Tenure
HOUSING
Dwelling
Type
STOCK
Size (Crowding)
Tenure
Quality
Dwelling Type
Location
Size (Crowding)
Neighbourhood
Quality
Characteristics
Location
Vacancies
Neighbourhood
Characteristics
HOUSING
Vacancies
ALLOCATIO
Cost
Government Policies
Explicit and Implicit
Rules
ACTORS
IN THE
Racial
Discrimination
Role of HOUSING
Gatekeepers
MARKET
in the Local
Housing
Private Landlords
Market
Public Housing
Agencies
Real Estate Agents
Mortgage Lenders
SOCIETA
EXISTING
L
SOCIETAL
HOUSING SEARCH
PROCESS
HOUSING
SEARCH
STRATEGIES
REALITIES
‘RACE’
ETHNICITY
CLASS
GENDER
RACE
as
ETHNICITY
socially
CLASS
constructed
GENDER
variables
as
SOCIALLY
CONSTRUCTED
VARIABLES
INSTITUTIONAL
ARRANGEMENT
HOUSING SEARCH
MOTIVES/
PROCESS
CIRCUMSTANCES/
PREFERENCES
OPTIONS
CONSIDERED
INFORMATION
SOURCES/
STRATEGIES
BARRIERS
ENCOUNTER
NO
OUTCOME
OF THE
HOUSING SEARCH PROCESS
ACCESS TO
HOUSING
SELECT
INFORMATIO
N
IDENTIFY
VACANCIES
ASSESS
VACANCIE
BID /
NEGOTIATE
WITH
LANDLORD/
SELLER
SUCCESS?
HOUSEHOLD
HAS FOUND A
PLACE TO
LIVE
HOUSING
EVALUATION
(Satisfaction)
HOUSE AS
HOME
(Physical and Social
Quality of the Living
Space)
NEIGHBOURHOOD
AND
COMMUNITY
(Quality of Community:
Sense of Belonging;
Resources in the
Community)
YES
HOUSING TRAJECTORIES
Additional Moves as a Result of Household,
Dwelling, Community or Societal Changes
© Housing New Canadians Research Working Group – Toronto 1999
Differential Incorporation and Housing Trajectories
R.A. Murdie, A.S. Chambon, J.D. Hulchanski, C. Teixeira
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Figure 4
BARRIERS: PRIMARY & S ECONDARY
PRIMARY BARRIERS
the social construction and the social use of certain
characteristics of a person’s profile that are
extremely difficult, if not impossible, to change
1. Skin Colour (‘Race’)
2. Ethnicity/Culture/Religion
3. Gender
SECONDARY BARRIERS
characteristics of a person’s profile which can
be changed, and often do change, over time
1. Level of Income
2. Source of Income
3. Knowledge of the Housing System
4. Language / Accent
5. Household Type and Size
6. Knowledge of Institutions and Culture
7. Experience with the Dominant Institutions and Culture
© Housing New Canadians Research Working Group – Toronto 1999