Care oasis or care deserts? Mapping non‐market housing, neighbourhood characteristics and infrastructures of care in three Canadian communities

Abstract Women face gendered and intersectional disparities in caregiving duties, income, and wealth, and exposure to gender‐based violence, and also disproportionately live in non‐market housing. As such, they especially benefit from infrastructures of care. We examine to what extent these infrastructures are locally available to those living in non‐market housing in three Canadian communities. We explore both the presence of non‐market housing units and the socio‐demographic characteristics of places in which this housing is located, and how these may be associated with resources in the urban environment that value, enable, and support caring. We find that most neighbourhoods with non‐market rentals are located in places with moderate infrastructures of care, rather than being situated in care deserts or care oases, concepts we introduce in this paper. Similarly, non‐market housing neighbourhoods with higher levels of disadvantage have moderate infrastructures of care in place, but some are actually care deserts. We also provide methodological and conceptual suggestions for further assessing infrastructures of care.