新北市社會住宅老年女性的獨居經驗

Abstract

近年來，隨著高齡化與家庭結構轉變，獨居老年人口持續增加，社會住宅逐漸成為老年女性獨自居住的選項之一。然而，既有關於社會住宅的研究多聚焦於住宅硬體設計、管理維護制度與社區營造策略，較少從居住者的日常經驗出發，分析老年女性在社會住宅中的獨居處境與生活實踐。特別是在高度制度化與管理導向的社會住宅體系下，老年女性如何回應居住治理、調適身體老化與空間限制，並在日常生活中形塑其主體性，仍有待深入探討。 本研究以新北市青年社會住宅中的獨居老年女性為研究對象，透過田野觀察、社會住宅政策相關資料分析與半結構式訪談，探討她們在社會住宅中的居住經驗與日常生活實踐。研究關注三個核心問題：第一，社會住宅的治理邏輯與制度設計如何形塑老年女性的獨居條件與行動邊界；第二，老年女性如何在身體老化、生活習慣與新型住宅空間之間進行調適；第三，在高度規範的公共與私密空間劃界下，老年女性如何透過日常實踐回應治理。 研究發現，社會住宅一方面為獨居老年女性提供相對穩定的居住安全與制度性支持，另一方面亦透過物業管理、空間設計與使用規範，形塑出高度管控的居住環境，使老年女性在公共空間參與、社交互動與生活安排上面臨多重限制。面對這些制度與空間條件，老年女性並非全然被動，而是透過細微而日常的實踐進行回應，包括走出房門、調整生活習慣、建立非正式的社會支持網絡，以及在受限空間中爭取使用彈性。 本研究指出，獨居老年女性在社會住宅中的生活並非僅是福利制度下的被安置狀態，而是一個持續協商治理規範、身體條件與生活需求的動態過程。透過日常實踐的視角，本研究試圖補充既有社會住宅研究中對居住者主體性與生活經驗的不足，並回應高齡化社會中居住治理對老年女性生活所帶來的結構性影響。研究最後亦反思社會住宅政策在高齡居住議題上的限制，並指出未來在規劃與制度設計上，應更重視老年住戶的日常生活經驗與非正式社會關係。

In recent years, with population ageing and transformations in family structures, the number of elderly people living alone has continued to increase. Social housing has gradually become one of the housing options for elderly women living independently. However, existing studies on social housing have largely focused on architectural design, management and maintenance systems, and community-building strategies, while paying relatively little attention to residents’ everyday experiences. In particular, under a highly institutionalized and management-oriented social housing system, how elderly women respond to housing governance, adapt to ageing and spatial constraints, and shape their subjectivity through daily life practices remains underexplored. This study focuses on elderly women living alone in social housing in New Taipei City. Through field observations, analysis of social housing policy documents, and semi-structured interviews, this research examines their residential experiences and everyday life practices within social housing. The study addresses three core questions: first, how the governance logic and institutional design of social housing shape elderly women’s living-alone conditions and boundaries of action; second, how elderly women adapt to the tensions between ageing, living habits, and newly designed residential spaces; and third, how elderly women respond to governance through everyday practices within a highly regulated division between public and private spaces. The findings reveal that while social housing provides elderly women living alone with relatively stable housing security and institutional support, it also produces a highly regulated living environment through property management, spatial design, and usage rules. As a result, elderly women face multiple constraints in terms of participation in public spaces, social interaction, and daily life arrangements. In response to these institutional and spatial conditions, elderly women are not merely passive recipients. Instead, they engage in subtle and everyday practices, including stepping out of their private units, adjusting daily routines, forming informal social support networks, and negotiating flexibility of space use within constrained environments. This study argues that the lives of elderly women living alone in social housing should not be understood merely as a state of being accommodated under welfare provision, but rather as a dynamic process of ongoing negotiation among governance regulations, bodily conditions, and everyday living needs. By adopting an everyday practice perspective, this research seeks to supplement existing social housing studies by focusing on residents’ subjectivity and lived experiences, and to address the structural impacts of housing governance on elderly women’s lives in an ageing society. Finally, the study reflects on the limitations of current social housing policies in addressing ageing-related housing issues and suggests that future planning and institutional design should place greater emphasis on elderly residents’ everyday experiences and informal social relationships.