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Journal of International Migration
and Integration
ISSN 1488-3473
Volume 17
Number 1
Int. Migration & Integration (2016)
17:173-192
DOI 10.1007/s12134-014-0396-7
Predictors of Living in Precarious Housing
Among Immigrants Accessing Housing
Support Services
Micheal L.Shier, John R.Graham, Eriko
Fukuda & Alina Turner
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Predictors of Living in Precarious Housing
Among Immigrants Accessing Housing Support Services
Micheal L. Shier &John R. Graham &Eriko Fukuda &
Alina Turner
Published online: 7 October 2014
#Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
Abstract The purpose of this study was to identify factors that explain immigrant
housing vulnerability, thereby contributing to the growth of a more substantial knowl-
edge base on the intersection between immigration, housing and homelessness. Ad-
ministrative data on housing support service recipients (n=4168) in Alberta, Canada,
were analysed to determine the varied demographic, socio-economic and health-related
factors that contribute to living in a precarious housing situation (such as homelessness,
couch surfing, staying with friends or family etc.). Logistic regression analysis shows
that being an immigrant is a protective factor from living in a precarious housing
situation. For the immigrant subsample (n=525), logistic regression analysis demon-
strates that living in a larger city, having a mental illness and being married were
protective factors from living in a precarious housing situation. However, having an
addiction and being precariously employed (such as only working part-time, having
temporary employment or being unemployed) were risk factors for living in a precar-
ious housing situation. Shared and distinctive vulnerabilities among the immigrant
subsample and the full study sample are discussed, along with implications for specific
policy and programmes that aim to address the housing needs of immigrants.
Int. Migration & Integration (2016) 17:173–192
DOI 10.1007/s12134-014-0396-7
M. L. Shier (*)
Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, 246 Bloor Street W., Toronto, ON M5S
1V4, Canada
e-mail: m.shier@utoronto.ca
J. R. Graham
School of Social Work, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA
e-mail: graham@fau.edu
E. Fukuda
Department of Psychology, University of Kansas, 1415 Jayhawk Blvd., Fraser Hall,
Lawrence, KS 66045-7556, USA
e-mail: erk.fukuda@gmail.com
A. Turner
School of Public Policy, University of Calgary, 908 8th Avenue S.W.,
Calgary, AB T2P1H9, Canada
e-mail: turneralina@gmail.com
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Keywords Immigrant .Refugee .Precarious.Service delivery.Social policy.Housing .
Homelessness
Introduction
The experiential and health-related aspects of international migration have received
increasing attention within interdisciplinary social science scholarship in recent years
(Shier et al. 2011a). This focus on immigrant
1
experiences is not surprising, considering
the growing number of international migrants moving to North America and other
developed parts of the world (Stalker 2008). In total, there are approximately 6.8
million foreign-born individuals in Canada, which represents approximately 21 % of
the Canadian population (Statistics Canada 2013). Canada has the largest proportion of
foreign-born individuals within its population among all G8 countries. The USA and
Germany are both around 13 % (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Devel-
opment (OECD) 2013). Among OECD countries, Canada ranks sixth with regard to the
proportion of population that is foreign-born, and the USA has the largest total number
of foreign-born individuals (40.4 million) (Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) 2013).
International migration continues to be an important aspect of population
stability in both Canada and the USA. For instance, in Canada, between 2006
and 2010, the number of new immigrants increased by approximately 12 %
(Government of Alberta 2011). In the USA, the annual number of new immigrants
has remained relatively stable throughout the last decade between 1 and 1.1
million people (OECD 2013). And in Alberta, Canada—the location of the data
collected in this study—the annual new immigrant population increased by 58 %
between 2006 and 2010 (Government of Alberta 2011), a period of economic
progress within the province.
While immigration is an important component of economic and social stability
in Canada (and elsewhere in the world), international migration also has conse-
quences for migrating individuals. Immigrants have to adjust to new social,
cultural and/or economic dynamics when migrating to a new country. These
adjustments can have positive and negative short- and long-term impacts on their
economic, physical, psychological and/or emotional/spiritual well-being (see for
example, Ingleby et al. 2001; Jamil et al. 2007; Potocky-Tripido 2001,2003;
Sossou et al. 2008). However, services provided directly by the governments of
Canada and its provinces that are targeted specifically towards immigrants (in-
cluding refugees) to address these particular issues and challenges have waned in
recent years. Instead, immigrants and refugees are increasingly left to rely more on
their own individual resources, immediate family and other kinship relationships,
along with non-profit and voluntary sector organizations (both religious and
secular organizations alike) to support their integration in the new country
(Bloemraad 2006; Tanasescu and Smart 2010).
1
The term immigrant is related to several other terms within the literature used to describe those individuals
who have migrated internationally to a new place of residence. Some of these include terms like refugee or
foreign-born individuals.
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The first step towards integration and inclusion involves finding adequate, stable
housing.
2
Studies conducted by Schellenberg (2004) and Engeland et al. (2004)showed
that finding stable housing for recent immigrants is important for creating overall
stability and supporting integration. As a first step in the resettlement process, having
access to acceptable housing is also a quality of life indicator (Engeland et al. 2004).
Considering the importance of housing in an immigrant’s resettlement journey, it is
necessary to investigate the factors that can contribute to positive housing outcomes.
And in particular, considering the declining state of affordable, government-subsidized
housing throughout North America (Erickson 2009), more emphasis in scholarship on
the individual characteristics (such as individual demographic variables and socio-
economic factors like employment status, educational attainment or income level) that
contribute to precarious housing outcomes could help to better match housing with
those needing it.
In this study, we analysed administrative data collected from people accessing
housing services in the seven largest cities in Alberta, Canada, and asked: To what
extent do demographic, socio-economic and health-related risk factors predict living in
precarious housing for immigrants accessing housing supports in Alberta, Canada?
Literature Review
Previously, research on immigrant precarious housing situations has focused on the
largest metropolitan centres in Canada—such as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver
(Fiedler et al. 2006;Kissoon2010; Schellenberg 2004). More recently, emphasis has
been placed on understanding precarious housing among immigrants outside of major
urban centres, but the focus has often been on smaller samples within smaller cities
(Anucha 2006;Harkins2012; Sutherland and Cheng 2009), or it tends to be primarily
descriptive (Carter and Osborne 2009), and/or is qualitative in nature (Garcia 2009;
Keller 2011). This study supplements these earlier works by analysing a larger data set
with multiple cities of data collection and utilizing a mix of individual-level predictor
variables.
Living in precarious housing can include several different housing situations. For
instance, it might include experiencing homelessness and living in emergency shelters
or transitional housing facilities, residing with family or friends because a person
cannot afford their own housing or living in housing that does not meet current building
regulation standards (Laird 2007; Sherrell et al. 2007; Wellesley Institute 2010). One of
the leading causes of immigrants living in precarious housing situations, such as
doubling up or living in less than adequate housing situations, is affordability
3
(Elmelech 2004; Fiedler et al. 2006; Lipman 2003; Preston et al. 2009; Teixeira
2011). Fundamental to the concept of affordability is the proportion of income paid
for accommodations. McConnell and Akresh (2010) find that disparities can exist in the
amount of income that is paid for accommodations based on different regions/countries
2
Adequate housing refers to the quality of the dwelling in which an individual resides, and stable housing
refers to the extent to which there is a permanency for the resident.
3
Housing affordability refers to the extent to which an individual can afford to pay for adequate, stable
housing. What this cited research shows is that individuals take up residence in these precarious housing types
of situations because they cannot afford to pay on their own more adequate, stable accommodations.
Predictors of Living in Precarious Housing Among Immigrants 175
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of origin from where the international migration journey begins. However, Forrest et al.
(2013) found the opposite in their study. They found that among refugees in Australia,
individual-level factors (rather than cultural-level factors, such as ethnic background or
country of origin) were the most important predictors of housing success following
resettlement. This discrepancy in findings might be explained by two reasons; central to
each are individual-level characteristics that create challenges within what the authors
describe as the highly competitive, and often times discriminatory North American
labour market. The first is that individuals travelling from less-developed countries may
have less human capital (such as less employment experience or less or unrecognized
education)which can result in their consignment to the lower-skilled, lower pay segment
of the labour market in the settlement country. Secondly, individuals of minority status
might experience issues of racism and discrimination in the settlement country when
seeking to attach to the labour market, which may exclude them from participating
entirely in the legal labour market. While there might be some divergence in results
within these studies, what they suggest is that specific socio-economic conditions, such
as inadequate income or poverty, insufficient employment or inadequate education to
enter the higher skill/higher pay labour market, are all contributing factors to whether or
not immigrants can fulfil their housing needs in the resettlement country.
Research on homelessness and other forms of precarious housing generally has
found that having employment can be a contributing factor which enables an individual
to move out of a precarious housing situation (First and Toomey 1989; Gao et al. 2009;
Piliavin et al. 1996). However, attachment to the labour market does not necessarily
lead to stable adequate housing. For instance, Shier et al. (2012) found that there are
key aspects of the labour market that can act to maintain a situation of homelessness.
These labour market characteristics include insufficient full-time employment oppor-
tunities, inadequate pay and increasing reliance on temporary or day labour (Shier et al.
2012). Therefore, positive housing situations might only be a function of adequate full-
time employment and not just employment generally. Based on this literature, we
hypothesized that involvement in full-time employment would result in a lower
likelihood of immigrants that access housing supports to be living in a precarious
housing situation. Similarly, having a higher income will result in a lower likelihood of
being precariously housed. Also, since education is associated with employment
success (Plante 2011), we hypothesized that lower educational attainment will lead to
a greater likelihood of being precariously housed.
While lack of affordability has been identified as the primary reason for immigrants
living in precarious housing situations, there are several other factors that can contribute
to the socio-economic situation of immigrants and subsequently their housing situation.
For instance, D’Addario et al. (2007) found that among immigrant groups, limited
English language capacity contributed to experiencing homelessness. Limited English
language capacity can affect employment and educational opportunities. We hypothe-
sized that individuals for whom English was not the first language would have a higher
likelihood of living in a precarious housing situation. Similarly, immigrants who have
been in Canada longer may have had more opportunity to gain experience within the
Canadian labour market. As a result, we hypothesized that immigrants who have been
in Canada longer will be less likely to live in a precarious housing situation.
Immigration status can also impact the types of services and supports for which
immigrants are eligible (Bloemraad 2006). In Canada, the federal government only
176 M.L. Shier et al.
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provides resettlement aid for government-assisted refugees. However, in Canada, there
is more resettlement support than elsewhere in the world—such as the USA, but this
tends to be within a network of local community-based organizations (Bloemraad
2006) with mixed levels of resources. Therefore, having a particular immigration status
might impact whether or not an individual qualifies for access to housing support
services, which then might have an impact on the housing situation of immigrants. We
therefore hypothesized that immigrants accessing housing supports who have attained
citizenship status (as opposed to being classified as permanent residents) will be less
likely to live in precarious housing situations because they would have engaged more
with the patchwork of community-based organizations that aim to support immigrant
resettlement. However, among permanent resident newcomers, refugees will be more
likely to live in permanent stable housing (in comparison to family status permanent
residents and foreign workers) because there are more immediate services for refugees
in Canada due to the existence of the federal programming that aims specifically to
support refugee resettlement.
Familial supports is another factor that might contribute to living in precarious
housing among immigrants and may be a more important resource than employment
and education in aiding immigrants to find adequate stable housing (Berman et al.
2009). For instance, employment may be restricted due to language ability or the
disallowance of foreign-earned credentials, requiring individuals to rely on family
members for resettlement support. Research has also found that many immigrants
minimally access the formal (or professional) sources of support available (D’Addario
et al. 2007). Likewise, as previously stated, services are sometimes only available for
certain immigrant groups (such as refugees), leaving other immigrant groups without
professional supports in aiding resettlement, or requiring them to search out for
professional supports, a daunting task for any recent immigrant arriving in a new
country with little to no social network (Bloemraad 2006). However, there appears to
be a threshold or point at which social networks no longer act as a buffer from
precarious housing among some immigrant groups (Tanasescu and Smart 2010),
suggesting that other factors other than social relationships or ties contribute to the
extent that individuals experience precarious housing. This has been a similar finding in
other studies on the general population of people experiencing homelessness (Shier
et al. 2010). Homelessness, though, is not the only precarious housing situation to
consider. Many immigrants are expected to live with friends or family members upon
resettlement, and sometimes, this is in overcrowded housing. We therefore hypothe-
sized that those immigrants accessing housing supports who have close intimate
relationship supports would be less likely to live in a precarious housing situation.
But having children (but not being married or living common-law) can contribute to
living in a precarious housing situation (Shier et al. 2011a). So we hypothesized that
immigrants accessing housing supports with children will likewise be at a greater risk
for living in a precarious housing situation. One reason for this is that they might need
to double up longer with family and friends before being able to secure their own
stable, permanent housing.
A further factor considered to lead to greater risk of negative housing situations
among the general population is the presence of health-related problems (such as
mental illness, physical disability and illness, and addictions) (Chiu et al. 2009;Hwang
et al. 2009;O’Connell 2005; Schanzer et al. 2007;SosinandBruni1997; Stein et al.
Predictors of Living in Precarious Housing Among Immigrants 177
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2007). Each of these health-related problems can contribute to and maintain a situation
of homelessness or other form of precarious housing. There is no evidence within the
present literature to suggest that having health-related issues would affect the housing
situation of immigrants differently than it does in the general population. We therefore
hypothesized that the presence of mental and physical illness and addictions will result
in a greater likelihood of living in a precarious housing situation among immigrants
accessing housing supports.
Three other demographic variables to consider that have not been identified within
the literature on precarious housing among immigrant people are gender, age and the
size of the city a person lives in. Because there is no present empirical evidence
suggesting the direction of the relationship between these three constructs and the
experiences immigrants have with precarious housing, our hypotheses were open-
ended.
Many of the factors highlighted previously are complex phenomenon. For instance,
with regard to the labour market, discrimination or experiences with racism can have a
detrimental impact on positive labour market attachment. Similarly, individuals may
have sufficient human capital—such as educational attainment or work experience;
however, due to a regulatory system around recognition of foreign credentials, immi-
grants may be prevented from taking up stable, adequate employment when arriving to
Canada. Similarly, social networks include a multitude of interactions beyond intimate
relationships. An individual’s social capital can include extended family, interactions
with the social welfare system, reliance on neighbours or friends within the local
community, etc. However, due to the limitations in the data that were collected, the
variables presented here act only as proxies for these phenomena.
Methods
Administrative data collected through the Alberta Seven Cities’Partnership on housing
and homelessness were analysed. The administrative data were collected by 39
community-based non-profit housing support organizations in Calgary, Edmonton, Fort
McMurray, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Red Deer. These housing
service organizations collected a mix of demographic and outcome-related data about
service recipients (n=4168) between December 2007 and April 2008 (Hoffart and
Cairns 2009).
Administrative data have been commonly used within the housing literature (see for
example, Chamberlain and Guy 2013; Culhane and Kuhn 1998; Kuhn and Culhane
1998;Wongetal.1997). This type of data allows for analyses that include very large
samples and therefore enables researchers to analyse data among larger samples of
subpopulations within the overall population (Culhane et al. 2008; Culhane, and
Metraux 1998).
Data Collection and Variables
The 39 organizations participating in the Alberta Seven Cities’Partnership on housing
and homelessness collected demographic and service utilization information about
service recipients. Data were collected by service delivery personnel from the housing
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support organizations at the time of intake (n=4168). At the time of survey completion,
respondents self-reported their housing situation as one of following: (1) living without
any shelter, (2) living in emergency shelters, (3) living in transitional housing, (4) living
with friends or family, (5) living in subsidized housing, (6) living in market rental
housing and (7) living in a house they owned. Four of these categories (i.e. 1 through 4)
are examples of precarious housing and three (i.e. 5 through 7) are examples of
relatively stable, permanent housing. Based on these housing situation options, the
data were combined into a two-category variable of stable housing (the reference
category) and precarious housing.
Demographic, socio-economic, and health-related variables were recorded within
the data set for each programme participant. The project team extracted several key
variables from the database that have been previously identified in research (described
above) as being linked to precarious housing. Table 1provides an overview of the
predictor variable classifications and self-report response categories.
Our analysis has three models. The first is the total sample, in which we included a
dichotomous variable measuring whether or not the respondent was an immigrant.
Likewise, we also included a variable on whether or not the respondent was an Aboriginal
person. The intention of having the full sample model was to determine whether or not
being an immigrant predicted living in a precarious housing situation. The second model
includes data from only the non-immigrant subsample. The third model, the immigrant
subsample, then looks more in depth at the specific factors affecting immigrants, such as
language ability, immigration and refugee status,
4
and number of years in Canada.
Data analysis
Data were analysed utilizing the MPlus statistical software package (Muthén and
Muthén 1998–2012). Logistic regression analysis was conducted utilizing full infor-
mation maximum likelihood estimation techniques. Full information maximum likeli-
hood was used to deal with missing data. Data were missing on all the predictor
variables except for the size of the city, whether or not the respondent was an
immigrant, and among the immigrant subsample, whether or not the respondent was
a refugee. For the full study sample, of the remaining variables included in the analysis,
no more than 8.5 % of data were missing on six of the predictor variables. For the
remaining five predictor variables, approximately 11 % was missing for the variable
age, approximately 15 % was missing for the variables marital status and whether or
not they had children under the age of 18, 17 % was missing for the income variable
and 21 % was missing for the educational attainment variable. Only 5.3 % was missing
for the dependent variable. With regard to the immigrant subsample, less than 5 % of
data were missing on eight of the predictor variables. For the remaining predictor
variables with missing data, 8.8 % was missing on the income variable, 10.7 for the
marital status variable, 15 % for the variable of whether or not respondents had children
under the age of 18, 13.1 % for the educational attainment variable and 22.1 % for the
first language variable. Only 2.9 % was missing on the dependent variable. Full
information maximum likelihood provides standard errors that accounts for the fact
that some of the data were missing.
4
In Canada, government-assisted refugees are classified as permanent residents.
Predictors of Living in Precarious Housing Among Immigrants 179
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Tab l e 1 Predictor variables and response categories
Socio-economic Demographic Personal health issues
Employment status (ordinal)
- Full-time employed
- Part-time employed
- Unemployed
Income (interval)
-Zeroto4999
- 5000 to 9999
- 10,000 to 14,999
- 15,000 to 19,999
- 20,000 to 24,999
- 25,000 to 29,999
- 30,000 and above
Education level (ordinal)
- Less than high school
- High school
- Post-secondary
Marital status (dichotomous)
- Married or common-law
- Not married or common-law (reference category)
Has children under 18 years old (dichotomous)
- Has children under 18 years old
- Does not have children under 18 years old
(reference category)
Age (continuous)
- Present age year at time of intake
Gender (dichotomous)
-Female
- Male (reference category)
Size of city (dichotomous)
- Large-sized City
- Small/medium-sized city (reference category)
First language (dichotomous)
- Not English
- English (reference category)
Immigration status (dichotomous)
- Permanent resident (including refugees, family
status migrants and foreign workers)
- Canadian citizen (reference category)
Refugee status (dichotomous)
- Is a refugee
- Is not a refugee (reference category)
Number of years in Canada (continuous)
- Number of years had lived in Canada at time of intake
Mental health concerns (dichotomous)
- Has mental health concern
- No mental health concern (reference category)
Current addictions (dichotomous)
- Has addiction to drugs or alcohol
- Does not have addiction to drugs or alcohol (reference category)
Physical health problem (dichotomous)
- Has physical health problem (s)
- Does not have physical health problem (s) (reference category)
180 M.L. Shier et al.
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As a first step, descriptive analyses were conducted on the total sample and the
immigrant subsample. Then, to examine if the risk factors significantly predicted living
in precarious housing, logistic regression analysis was performed with a dichotomous
dependent variable with the following two categories: (1) permanent/stable housing and
(2) precarious housing for the total sample and the immigrant subsample. Since many
of the predictor variables were dichotomous variables, the multivariate normal distri-
bution assumption did not seem appropriate for these variables, so a more sophisticated
model was specified that treated these dichotomous predictor variables as categorical.
This was achieved by specifying a set of recursive logistic regression equations for
these predictor variables. We maintained the assumption of multivariate normality for
the continuous variables.
Results
Descriptive Statistics
A total of 4168 people were included in the administrative database. Table 2presents
descriptive statistics of the dependent and predictor variables for cases with data of the
total sample, non-immigrant subsample and immigrant subsample.
The majority of immigrant respondents were living in a precarious housing situation
at the time of intake into the housing service organization, although a greater proportion
of immigrants lived in permanent stable housing when compared to the non-immigrant
subsample. Based on the results in Table 2, it is apparent that immigrant people in this
sample experience several risk factors associated with negative housing situations. For
instance, the majority of respondents were unemployed and the majority had annual
incomes of less than Canadian $15,000. However, when compared to the non-
immigrant subsample, immigrants tended to earn more income and were less likely
to be in a precarious employment situation (such as part-time or unemployed). Immi-
grants also tended to have achieved a higher education level when compared to the non-
immigrant subsample.
The descriptive statistics also show that the majority of respondents were not
presently married or living common-law with a spouse, but the majority of respondents
had children under the age of 18 living with them. When compared to the non-
immigrant sample, immigrants were more likely to be married and to have children
under the age of 18 living with them. The majority of immigrants did not report having
mental or physical health concerns or present addiction issues at time of intake. Similar
to other variables, immigrants were less likely to have mental health concerns, present
addictions or physical health issues when compared to the non-immigrant subsample.
The descriptive findings also show that a greater proportion of respondents in the non-
immigrant subsample lived in smaller cities, while a larger proportion among the
immigrant subsample lived in larger cities. This finding is consistent to resettlement
trends in Canada, where immigrants tend to locate in larger urban centres.
Overall, a comparison between the descriptive statistics of the non-immigrant
subsample with the immigrant subsample highlights that immigrants experience risk
factors associated with living in precarious housing; however, the extent to which they
experience these risk factors is less when compared to general population figures.
Predictors of Living in Precarious Housing Among Immigrants 181
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Tab l e 2 Descriptive statistics of dependent and predictor variables for the full sample and immigrant subsample
Total study sample (n=4168) Non-immigrant subsample (n= 3438) Immigrant subsample (n=525)
Frequency Proportion Mean (sd) Frequency Proportion Mean (sd) Frequency Proportion Mean (sd)
Housing situation
Permanent/stable housing 889 0.225 708 0.206 181 0.355
Precarious housing 3059 0.775 2730 0.794 329 0.645
Gender
Male 2123 0.518 1864 0.522 259 0.494
Female 1975 0.482 1710 0.478 265 0.506
Age 34.8 (12.7) 34.1 (12.7) 38.6 (12.5)
City size
Small/medium-sized city 2250 0.540 1999 0.549 251 0.478
Large-sized city 1918 0.460 1644 0.451 274 0.522
Employment
Full-time 553 0.140 441 0.128 112 0.218
Casual/part-time 420 0.106 349 0.102 71 0.138
Unemployed 2978 0.754 2646 0.770 332 0.645
Income
Zero to 4999 1102 0.317 970 0.324 132 0.276
5000 to 9999 559 0.161 488 0.163 71 0.148
10,000 to 14,999 977 0.281 861 0.288 116 0.242
15,000 to 19,999 393 0.113 328 0.110 65 0.136
20,000 to 24,999 174 0.050 139 0.046 35 0.073
25,000 to 29,999 85 0.025 61 0.020 24 0.050
30,000 and above 182 0.052 146 0.049 36 0.075
182 M.L. Shier et al.
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Tab l e 2 (continued)
Total study sample (n=4168) Non-immigrant subsample (n= 3438) Immigrant subsample (n=525)
Frequency Proportion Mean (sd) Frequency Proportion Mean (sd) Frequency Proportion Mean (sd)
Educational attainment
Less than high school 1717 0.524 1550 0.550 167 0.366
High school 1209 0.369 1009 0.358 200 0.439
Post-secondary 350 0.107 261 0.093 89 0.195
Marital status
Not common-law/married 2910 0.822 2618 0.872 292 0.623
Common-law/married 630 0.178 453 0.148 177 0.377
Has children under 18 years
No 1820 0.504 1655 0.522 165 0.370
Yes 1794 0.496 1513 0.478 281 0.630
Mental health concern
No 2289 0.592 1878 0.560 411 0.801
Yes 1579 0.408 1477 0.440 102 0.199
Addiction
No 2392 0.625 1946 0.586 446 0.885
Yes 1435 0.375 1377 0.414 58 0.115
Physical health problem
No 2338 0.613 1986 0.601 352 0.692
Yes 1475 0.387 1318 0.399 157 0.308
First language
English –– – – 71 0.174
Other –– – – 338 0.826
Predictors of Living in Precarious Housing Among Immigrants 183
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Tab l e 2 (continued)
Total study sample (n=4168) Non-immigrant subsample (n= 3438) Immigrant subsample (n=525)
Frequency Proportion Mean (sd) Frequency Proportion Mean (sd) Frequency Proportion Mean (sd)
Immigration status
Canadian citizen –– – – 134 0.257
Permanent resident –– – – 388 0.743
Refugee status
No –– – – 310 0.590
Yes –– – – 215 0.410
Number of years in Canada ––– 7.9 (11.7)
184 M.L. Shier et al.
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Logistic Regression
Tab le 3presents the results of the three logistic regression analyses. The first model in
the table presents the coefficients and exponentiated coefficients for the total sample,
and the second and third present the results for the non-immigrant and immigrant
subsamples, respectively. The results show that being an immigrant acted as a protec-
tive factor. In fact, based on these results, the odds of living in a precarious housing
situation was 0.777 times less for immigrants. The Aboriginal variable (coded a 1 for
Aboriginal and 0 for non-Aboriginal) was included in the first model to determine if
there were similar housing outcomes for different minority groups. This is an important
consideration. In Canada, labour market participation rates remain lower for visible
minority populations and Aboriginal people in comparison to non-visible minorities
(George and Doyle 2001; Human Resources and Skills Development Canada 2006),
resulting in the increasing racialization of socio-economic status (Galabuzi 2006; Wallis
and Kwok 2008). The analysis shows that the odds of living in a precarious housing
situation is two times greater for Aboriginal people than for non-Aboriginal people.
The results suggest the need to consider the housing needs of different ethno-racial
cultural groups separately.
The other statistically significant findings for the total sample included gender,
income, marital status, mental illness, addictions and physical health concern. With
regard to gender, females were 0.565 times less likely than males to be living in a
precarious housing situation. Income, marital status, mental illness and physical health
concern were all protective factors in relation to living in a precarious housing situation.
Specifically, for a one unit increase in the level of income, there was a 16.8 % decrease
in the odds that a person lives in a precarious housing situation. Likewise, the odds of
living in a precarious housing situation were 0.445 times less for individuals who were
married or living in common-law relationships. Also, the odds of those living in
precarious housing situations were 0.652 times less for individuals with a mental illness
and 0.677 times less for individuals with a physical health concern. However, having an
addiction at time of intake increased the odds of living in a precarious housing situation
by 2.684 times. The results from the second column in Table 3with data just from the
non-immigrant subsample show similar odds as the total sample.
The third column in Table 3presents the logistic regression results for the immigrant
subsample. The four variables pertaining specifically to the immigrant subsample—i.e.
first language, immigrant status, refugee status and years living in Canada—were
included, but none of the relationships were found to be statistically significant. Instead,
the results show that the significant predictors of living in a precarious housing situation
include the size of the city of residence, level of employment, marital status, having a
mental illness and having a present addiction. Specifically, the results show that the
odds of living in a precarious housing situation are 0.558 times less for those living in a
larger city (i.e. Calgary or Edmonton). Also, for a one unit decrease in the level of
employment (i.e. going from full-time employment to part-time employment or from
part-time employment to unemployment), there was a 70.8 % increase in the odds that a
person lives in a precarious housing situation. With regard to marital status, the results
show that the odds of living in a precarious housing situation are 0.426 times less for
those respondents that reported being married or living common-law. Similar to the
findings for the non-immigrant subsample, having a mental illness appears to be a
Predictors of Living in Precarious Housing Among Immigrants 185
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protective factor from living in a precarious housing situation while having a present
addiction acts as a risk factor. Among the immigrant subsample, the odds of living in a
precarious housing situation are 0.541 times less for individuals with a mental illness,
but 2.870 times greater for those with a present addiction.
For immigrants, these results suggest that living in a larger city, having full-time
employment, and being married or living common-law decrease the odds of living in a
precarious housing situation. The findings are comparable to the non-immigrant study
sample, except for the finding about the influence of the size of the city of residence and
the employment variable. Surprisingly, none of the immigrant-specific variables that
were hypothesized to impact socio-economic status—such as length of time in the
country, English language ability or citizen/residency status—were found to be statis-
tically significant predictors of housing situation.
Discussion and Conclusion
The results show that employment is one important factor in predicting positive
housing situations among immigrants accessing housing supports, when controlling
for other variables in the model. While immigrants in the study sample were more
Tab l e 3 Logistic regression results of the protective and risk factors to be precariously housed for the total
sample and immigrant subsample
Total sample Non-immigrant subsample Immigrant subsample
BExp (B)BExp (B)BExp (B)
Immigrant −0.252* 0.777* ––––
Aboriginal 0.694*** 2.001*** 0.746*** 2.109*** ––
Gender −0.571*** 0.565*** −0.732*** 0.481*** −0.318 0.727
Age 0.000 1.000 0.001 1.001 −0.015 0.985
City size 0.026 1.027 0.057 1.059 −0.583* 0.558*
Employment −0.044 0.957 −0.084 0.919 0.535*** 1.708***
Income −0.184*** 0.832*** −0.145*** 0.865*** 0.061 1.063
Education −0.045 0.956 −0.156 0.856 0.293 1.340
Marital status −0.810*** 0.445*** −0.665*** 0.514*** −0.853** 0.426**
Has children under 18 −0.176 0.839 −0.001 0.998 −0.026 0.974
Mental illness −0.428*** 0.652*** −0.509*** 0.601*** −0.615* 0.541*
Addiction 0.987*** 2.684*** 1.019*** 2.771*** 1.054* 2.870*
Physical health concern −0.390*** 0.677*** −0.269*** 0.744*** −0.213 0.808
First language ––– – 0.419 1.520
Immigration status ––– – −0.408 0.665
Refugee ––– – −0.252 0.777
Years in Canada ––– – 0.017 1.017
Loglikelihood H0 value −57,115.150 −9421.81 −8253.597
***p<0.001; **p<0.01; *p<0.05
186 M.L. Shier et al.
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likely to be employed full-time when compared to the total sample, the regression
model still found that immigrants accessing housing supports who experienced unem-
ployment and underemployment had greater odds of being in a precarious housing
situation. Therefore, attaining adequate employment is an important factor in securing
permanent, stable housing. However, this might be problematic, since many immi-
grants may have limited employment opportunities due to other aspects of vulnerabil-
ity—such as lack of social and human capital, including adequate social networks and
support, and a lack of recognition of foreign-earned credentials and education (George
and Chaze 2009; Nuesch-Olver 2002). Housing is an important first step in the
resettlement process, but without adequate full time employment, access to adequate
housing can be a challenge.
In Canada, more emphasis is being placed on the employability of immigrants in the
qualification process for immigration. For instance, the six categories in which indi-
viduals can apply for immigration status are now (1) skilled workers and professionals;
(2) Quebec-selected skilled workers; (3) Canadian experience class; (4) investors,
entrepreneurs and self-employed people; (5) provincial nominees and (6) sponsoring
your family. All but two of these are obvious from their category titles. The Canadian
experience class refers to immigrants who have recent Canadian work experience, and
the provincial nominee programme refers to immigrants who have been nominated by
the provincial government for their ability to promote economic development within
the respective province (for further descriptions see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/
immigrate/index.asp). The only category that is not specific to the employability of
an individual is the sixth—sponsoring your family. But even in this last category, heavy
emphasis is placed on the candidates’work experience and educational backgrounds,
and possible future employability when arriving in Canada. The emphasis in these
immigration classes is on financial self-sufficiency and sustainability. This is similar to
the situation in the USA (Bloemraad 2006). The concern that all this raises in relation to
our study findings is that while immigrants might be highly employable based on their
human capital accumulation, it does not mean they are going to find employment.
Likewise, there are distinctions to be made in the types of employment that are attained.
Precarious types of employment, such as part-time and temporary employment, may be
the only opportunities some immigrants get when seeking to attach to the labour market
in their settlement country. The study findings show that less than adequate employ-
ment can have detrimental effects on the housing situation of immigrants. Therefore,
immigration policy needs to move beyond focusing just on potential employability and
consider the actuality of that employability after the migration journey.
Also, the study results show that being married increases the odds of not being
in a precarious housing situation. While marital status is not a perfect proxy for
social interconnectivity, in some ways, it does represent this phenomenon, possi-
bly even more so for immigrants who may already have limited social capital
when they arrive in a new country. This finding is consistent with previous
research showing the important role intimate relationships and other aspects of
social networks can play in housing stability (Jones et al. 2012; Shier et al. 2011b;
Shier et al. 2010). However, the role of social networks and familial relationships
on housing stability for immigrants requires further research investigation. For
instance, further research could examine whether or not immigrants’spouse or
family resides with them in Canada.
Predictors of Living in Precarious Housing Among Immigrants 187
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Furthermore, the study results show that immigrants accessing housing supports that
have a mental health issue reduces the odds of living in a precarious housing situation.
Therefore, a mental health concern seems to be a point of access to services, possibly
even direct housing supports. This might be because of other supports specifically
targeting individuals with mental health concerns that exist outside of the generic
shelter services, such as community-based mental case work programmes and hospital
services that align individuals with adequate interventions and supports. Immigrant and
non-immigrants with mental health concerns may have support to move out of precar-
ious housing situations. This may indicate that having access to alternative services
(such as community-based support programmes) to deal with risk factors that lead to
homelessness can be a positive influence on housing situations. This is yet another
fruitful area of future research.
Access to services might also be an explanation why a larger city of residence
improves the odds of an immigrant accessing housing supports living in permanent,
stable housing. Are there more services for immigrants in larger cities? Or alternatively,
we could ask, are there sufficient immigrant-focused service organizations in smaller
Canadian cities?
Some of our findings have implications for future research on the vulnerability of
immigrants living in precarious housing situations. First, the odds of living in a
precarious housing situation were increased for the immigrant subsample when there
was a present addiction to drugs or alcohol. A fundamental research question emerging
here is: How well are housing support agencies and associated government
programmes responding to active addiction? Previous research has found that utilizing
substance abuse treatments is not necessarily a predictor of positive housing outcomes
(Meschede 2010). Services may focus on a particular problem or issue and not respond
to intersecting variables. People who access drug and alcohol treatment programmes
may require added supports—in relation to housing specifically—to move into a more
stable life. This link between housing situation and treatment needs to be further
explored at both a practice and policy level (Clapham 2002,2003). Secondly, our
findings show that immigrants accessing housing supports who were married or in a
common-law relationship were more likely than immigrants who were single to be
living in a precarious housing situation. Further research into the unique vulnerabilities
of single adult immigrants in relation to housing and social supports is necessary to
provide a greater understanding of the cultural and social parameters that predict
vulnerability towards precarious housing (Shier et al. 2011b). This is an important
consideration for the future as relationship-based demographics in Canada and the USA
continue to change.
This analysis provides a useful exploratory investigation into several key factors that
can predict housing situations for immigrants in Canada, but there are a few limitations
in our study. First, while the sample size in this study was large, the findings should not
be generalized to a broader population of people living in precarious housing situations,
because the data were collected from people who were voluntarily accessing housing-
related services and should not be considered representative of all people living
precariously. Also, the data are not representative of all immigrants, as many new
Canadians may not access the types of programmes the sample utilized. And while our
results suggest some similarities and differences between immigrants and non-
immigrants who are living in precarious housing situations, further research needs to
188 M.L. Shier et al.
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be undertaken to examine whether our findings hold for a broader group of people who
are living precariously and/or at risk of precarious living, including those who are not
actively seeking services (i.e. those who are not connected with a programme or
project). Also, further investigation is needed to determine if these effects are consistent
across all immigrant classifications. Our results did not find a statistically significant
effect of being a refugee on living in a precarious housing situation, but this does not
mean that the factors predicting housing precariousness among refugees specifically are
not different than those that predict living in a precarious housing situation among
immigrants more generally.
Furthermore, and as previously mentioned, administrative data comes with limita-
tions with regard to the variety of variables that can be included in an analysis. The
variables in this study were presented as proxies for more complex social phenomena.
More research is needed that investigates specific labour market experiences and
various levels of social capital accumulation to provide a more comprehensive evalua-
tion of these variables on housing success among immigrants. And finally, while we
categorized living with friends or family as a type of precarious housing, it might be the
case that individuals were living in multi-family dwellings, with ample space and good
quality accommodations. However, not much is known about this housing situation
among immigrants and therefore requires further research attention to determine the
extent that it could be considered a precarious housing situation.
Even with these limitations, this research helps to begin filling the gap in our
knowledge of the influence of key individual risk factors in predicting precarious housing
among immigrants. Further research is necessary to inform potential housing and home-
lessness policies that might enable immigrants easier access to acceptable housing,
thereby easing (or facilitating) their integration into neighbourhoods and metropolitan
areas. Our work suggests that the topic has different consequences depending on place
and so could be a useful reminder to policy analysts and service providers alike that the
solutions to precarious housing need to take into account facets such as the intersection
between being an immigrant and local community context, along with social institutions
other than the immigration system, such as the labour market.
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