Housing & Income as Social Determinants of Women’s Health in Canadian Cities

Health policy is increasingly conceptualized as concerned with broader issues that influence health rather than simply focused on health care. One such concern is with the social determinants of health which are the conditions in which people live and work. Social determinants provide the context for understanding population health and women’s health in particular. Especially important to health are the social determinants of income and housing. This article examines how income and housing policies interact with gender to influence these social determinants of Canadian women’s health. It compares income and housing data for unattached men and women of working age (18 to 64 years), couples with children, and female and male lone-parents in the Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs). The study found that although the incomes of female lone-parents increased slightly in Montreal and Toronto, female lone-parents and unattached females without children continue to show higher rates of poverty than other groups. Female lone-parents are the most socially and economically disadvantaged. Women’s lower incomes provide the context in which health-related effects of housing and income policies can be understood.