Following mention of this unwelcome ordeal of home inspections by a couple of other participants, I reflected on this process of house inspections with the housing representatives. This situation seemed to reveal a structure of domination and the forces of hegemony at work keeping these low-income families oppressed. Housing officials were performing a gate-keeping role by deciding who was permitted to stay in the neighbourhood. I wondered if I also would not have felt uncomfortable, and somewhat violated having a stranger take on a patronizing role in entering my home, and passing judgment on it by telling me if I was keeping it clean enough to keep living there.

I thought about how I would feel if I was told that I had to clean up and they would be returning to inspect again. I reflected also on the variety of homes I had visited in my job working in the community over the years. From such visits, I have found that the range in housekeeping standards seems to be unrelated to class, although it is often possible for the middle and upper class to use some of their disposable income to pay for cleaning services so that they do not have to do the cleaning themselves. Clearly, this whole process of uninvited house inspections is grounded in a political system that promotes classism and supports conditions that perpetuate a marginalization of those who are dependent on income assistance. Home inspections only happen to those without sufficient income to afford better homes and not live under the authority of social workers.

Despite the often noisy and chaotic neighbourhood within which these families live, they generally try to arrange a quiet consistent place for the children to do their homework in their own homes. Jane provides a quiet room at homework time by turning off the television and sitting with her child on the living room floor. Lynne and Natalie both have a desk upstairs for their children to do homework in their bedrooms and Julie has sturdy child sized plastic furniture in the living room for her younger children to use for their homework. Andrea offers her children the use of the kitchen table.