Uppeldi og menntun - 01.07.2015, Page 108

UPPELDI OG MENNTUN/ICELANDIC JOURNAL OF EDUCATION 24(2) 2015108
SOCIAL ( IN )EQUALITY: COLLABORATIVE REFLECTION
improve one’s opportunities and consequently one’s income by participation in the
labor market (Sen, 2000).
Housing
Lack of access to economic resources also influences people’s opportunities to choose
where to live. The freedom to choose is fundamental to the capability approach (Sen,
1992), and since people with intellectual disabilities lack access to employment and
financial services very few are able to make financial commitments, such as renting
in the open market or buying real estate. Therefore, most people with intellectual
disabilities in Iceland rent social housing or live in communal housing for disabled
people. Renters in Iceland are entitled to rent benefits from the municipality, and this
includes renters in social housing and communal housing for disabled people (Lög
um húsaleigubætur nr. 138/1997 [Rent Benefit Act]). Renters who experience finan-
cial hardship (low wages, high burden of subsistence or other form of social difficul-
ties) are able to apply for so-called ‘special rent benefits’ (Akureyri, n.d.; Ministry of
Welfare, n.d.; Reykjavík, n.d.). However, disabled people who rent from the disabled
people’s organizations are not eligible for these special rent benefits even though the
rent is compatible with the open market. The benefits of renting from the disabled
people’s organizations are for example availability, wheel-chair access, and in some
cases support services. Disability advocates and their organizations have criticized the
unfairness of this rule, especially since disabled people are often faced with financial
difficulties and have limited opportunities to further their income.
Steindór has rented from the organizations for 20 years, and while he likes his
apartment, the denial of special rent benefits is frustrating. Also, if something needs to
be repaired in the apartment it is the organization’s responsibility to fix it, but there is
a long waiting list for maintenance services and the renters are not reimbursed if they
pay someone else to do it. Steindór had problems with his front door which did not
shut properly. It took the organization months to get it repaired. ‘You obviously get
anxious and stressed when your front door is broken,’ Steindór says.
The freedom to choose where to live, including the choice of whom to live with, is
ensured in the constitution, the CRPD, and national legislation and policy. Still, most
people with intellectual disabilities have to settle for what housing and assistance the
municipality or disability organizations have to offer (Björnsdóttir, Stefánsdóttir, &
Stefánsdóttir, 2015). Steindór reminisces:
I was very excited about moving into my own place. It was a dream come true. I do
not know how they came to decide the three of us should live together. I guess some-
body at the Social Services drew our names from a hat. It was all about availability.
What flats were available and we were all men at a similar age but did not know each
other and had not much in common. It was a flat in a nice apartment building, with
three bedrooms but we shared the living room, kitchen and bathroom. It was not a
good time for me. My dream turned into a nightmare. I got along fine with one of my
roommates but the other one was just not roommate material. He did not clean after