A homeless
individual is defined as “an individual who lacks housing (without regard to
whether the individual is a member of a family), including an individual whose
primary residence during the night is a supervised public or private facility (e.g.,
shelters) that provides temporary living accommodations, and an individual who
is a resident in transitional housing.” A homeless person is an
individual without permanent housing who may live on the streets; stay in a
shelter, mission, single room occupancy facilities, abandoned building or
vehicle; or in any other unstable or non-permanent situation.
Cause of
homeless
The most
common reasons people give for losing their accommodation is that a friend or
relatives are no longer able to provide support or because of
relationship breakdown.
However,
there are often a wide number of factors at play. Individuals can arrive at the
point of homelessness after a long chain of other life events.
- Individual circumstances
Some
factors and experiences can make people more vulnerable to homelessness: these
include poor physical health, mental health problems, alcohol and drugs issues,
bereavement, experience of care, and experience of the criminal justice system.
- Wider forces
Structural
factors can include poverty, inequality, housing supply and affordability,
unemployment, welfare and income policies.
- Complex interplay
Structural
and individual factors are often interrelated; individual issues can arise from
structural disadvantages such as poverty or lack of education. While personal
factors, such as family and social relationships, can also be put under
pressure by structural forces such as poverty.
Impact of
homeless
- On individuals
With people
often experiencing feelings of isolation, homelessness can also increase your
chances of taking drugs or experiencing physical or mental health problems. Evidence
suggests that the longer someone is in this position the more difficult it can
become to get back on your feet.
As someone's problems become more complex, anti-social
behaviour, involvement with the criminal justice system and acute NHS services
become more likely.- On communities
Homelessness
can often have a negative impact on local communities. We know from one study
on the experiences of homeless people with complex problems, that there is
a:
- 77% chance that someone could sleep rough
- 53% chance that someone could be involved in street drinking
- 32% chance that someone could beg
- 10% chance that someone could be involved in prostitution.
Edited and written by: Lady Verdezoto
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