Commentary
Public housing stock continues to decline in number, and in many places decline in quality as stock ages and governments cut back on maintenance and replacement budgets. This contraction of the public housing sector restricts one avenue formally available to women attempting to find a way out of homelessness.

Public housing has been described by some as women's housing; women often make up a majority of tenants as they are disproportionately represented among those on low incomes.

In recent years policymakers have put greater emphasis on the importance of other types of social housing, such as housing cooperatives, which may be self managed and sponsored by religious and civil community based organizations, often in partnership with government.