Logement social et ses effets

The effects of social housing on tenants’ life trajectories, assets, and access to resources: a comparative study of four Quebec programs.

Presentation

Why do this study?

Social inequalities in health are produced by an unequal distribution of wealth and resources. For a society to be more just and equitable, it is necessary to have public policies that improve the material and social living conditions of the most vulnerable populations. Since housing is one of the main determinants of health, Quebec has developed various social housing programs over the years. In Quebec, these people can benefit from one of the following four programs: 1) Regular public low-cost housing program (HLM), managed by a housing office (OH); 2) Regular private low-cost housing program (HLM) or rent supplement program (PSL), managed by a nonprofit housing organization (NPO); 3) Regular private low-cost housing program (HLM) or PSL, managed by a housing cooperative ( COOP); or 4) Regular private PSL, managed by an OH that subsidizes rent in a building in the private rental market. There is some corpus of knowledge about these four programs. However, a systematic comparison of the residents’ experience has never been made. Yet, the built environment, social reality, and services available to people in these programs vary significantly, which should translate into different effects. Although social housing programs present themselves as policies to combat poverty and social exclusion, the mechanisms by which they are likely to produce these effects remain largely unknown. In this context, the study’s overall goal is to develop and test the intervention theories of the four targeted social housing programs in order to better understand their effects and the mechanisms by which these effects are produced, taking into account the influence of context and individual characteristics.

Objectives

The proposed project aims to achieve the five objectives below:

Understanding the mechanisms and contexts that have led people living in public housing (where the cost of rent is 25% of their income) to live in poverty;
Understanding the influence of social housing on the life trajectory (including exit from poverty if applicable), assets, and accessibility to resources of different groups of people (women or men, singles or families, immigrants or non-immigrants, from small, medium and large municipalities);
Comparing four Quebec social housing programs (HLM, OSBL, COOP, private PSL) in terms of their contexts, mechanisms of action, and effects;
Analyzing the differential impact of public housing programs by gender;
Identifying what should be done to ensure that more people benefit from the provision of social housing programs.

Methodology

The chosen method has four components carried out in a sequential manner:

Initial program theorization – Initial models will be produced based on a review of the scientific literature and cross-knowledge meetings between the team’s academic researchers and six peer researchers.
Individual interview study – Individual “life story” type interviews will be conducted with tenants of the four social housing programs (n = 60) and people occupying non-subsidized private housing after having lived in social housing (n = 15), in order to test the initial models and improve them. Recruitment will be carried out in municipalities of various sizes (Montreal, Lévis, Bellechasse, and Portneuf RCMs).
Focus Group Study – Focus groups will be conducted with tenants and various stakeholders (owners/managers, stakeholders, partners) to finalize the models.
World Café – A World Café with all study participants and collaborators will be held to collectively identify and prioritize actions to improve the ability of social housing programs to achieve desired outcomes.

Expected benefits

One of the main strengths of our project resides in the fact that the prioritization of the actions to be taken will be done by the different stakeholders, based on the professional knowledge of the people who work on the implementation of the programs (managers, landlords, stakeholders, partners), but also on the experiential knowledge of the tenants. Another major strength is the production of a model of the mechanisms for producing the effects of the four social housing programs, which can serve as a basis for improving the programs and continuing the evaluation efforts in the future.

The potential impact of the project is major, as it will eventually lead to concrete and immediately actionable recommendations for public authorities to modify social housing programs to increase their effectiveness. Explicitly, the results of the project may be relevant to the following public policies: 1) the HLM program (public and private NPO/COOP components); 2) the AccèsLogis Québec program (which finances housing units managed by OHs, NPOs, and COOPs); and 3) the Rent Supplement program. Moreover, since the project will give voice to more than 175 people living in poverty and explore what helps them (or not) to lead the lives they aspire to, our results may also be useful for; 4) social assistance and social solidarity programs; and 5) the next Government Action Plan to Foster Economic Inclusion and Social Participation (PAGIEPS)

Current status

The ethics approval application for the project was obtained in spring 2021.

PART 1. INITIAL PROGRAM DESIGN

The first part of the project, which consists of generating an initial theory of the mechanisms for producing effects for each of the four social housing programs (HLM, OSBL, COOP, private PSL) is underway. The initial models have been discussed with the research team, improved with the help of peer researchers and the various partners, and will be enriched by the analysis of the implementation experience of the main stakeholders (tenants, stakeholders, and owners/managers).

PART 2. CROSS-SECTIONAL QUALITATIVE STUDY BY INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEWS OF THE “LIFE STORY” TYPE

Recruitment of participants is underway in the different regions of Quebec. Life story interviews began in June 2021 and will continue until the end of summer 2021.

PART 3. DELIBERATIVE FOCUS GROUP STUDY

The focus groups took place between January and March 2023. Tenants, stakeholders, managers and landlords were consulted and made recommendations for changes to be made to public policies affecting social housing.

PART 4. PRIORITIZATION OF RECOMMANDATIONS

It was decided to replace the Word Café with a process of prioritizing the recommendations that emerged from our deliberative focus groups. Prioritization will be completed in the spring of 2023.

Research team

Researchers and collaborators

Janie Houle – Principal researcher Community psychologist
Professor, Department of Psychology, UQAM | Researcher, Research Centre of the University Institute in Mental Health of Montreal

Caroline Adam
Co-researcher
Teacher, Department of Social Work Techniques, Cégep du Vieux-Montréal | Associate researcher, CACIS Chair

Emmanuelle Bédard
Co-researcher
Professor, Department of Health Sciences, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (Campus de Lévis)

Hélène Bélanger
Co-researcher
Professor, Department of Urban and Tourism Studies, School of Management Sciences, UQAM | Researcher, Centre de recherche sur la ville, ESG-UQAM

Jean-Marc Fontan
Co-researcher
Professor, Department of Sociology, UQAM | Researcher, Research Centre on Social Innovations, UQAM

Isabel Heck
Collaborator
Community Researcher

Paul Morin
Co-researcher
Professor, School of Social Work, Université de Sherbrooke | Director, Institut universitaire de première ligne en santé et services sociaux (in French)

Louise Potvin
Co-investigator
Professor, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Université de Montréal| Chairholder, Canada Research Chair in Community Approaches and Inequalities in Health (in French)