The Issue of Homelessness - Essay Example

?Homelessness Watson (1986) claims that there is little consensus among policy makers, researchers, local ities and voluntary housing organizations as to the definition of homelessness. Johnston et al (2004) define homelessness as the absence of a place where one can sleep and receive mail. However, other researchers believe homelessness is much more complex and difficult to define. For example, Chamberlain and Mackenzie (1992) claim that there is also ‘secondary homelessness’ in which people reside in temporary accommodation such as emergency and refuge facilities. They also claim that there is ‘tertiary homelessness’, which refers to people living in boarding housing on a long term basis without security of tenure or exclusive use of bathroom or kitchen facilities. Smith (2005) also claims that many homeless people are ‘hidden’ from official government statistics, e.g. people sleeping on the couch in friends houses. However, Heintjes (2005) argues that defining ‘hidden homelessness’ as a form of homelessness stretches the concept to such an extent that it loses its distinct value, and he questions whether defining it in this way is a useful concept at all. Carlen (1996) states that changes in the law, economic conditions, and social and political ideology contribute to homelessness. Carlen (1996) also claims that homelessness and the homeless are 20th Century productions, in which governments attempt to categorize it in order to try and tackle the problem. From this point of view, Marxist geographers including Harvey (2005) argue that homelessness can in some parts be contributed to the inequality that exists in capitalist societies, in which there will always be ‘winners’, i.e. the bourgeoisie, and losers, i.e. proletariat. This often leads in low wages and unemployment for the poorest members of society, i.e. the wheels are capitalism lead to poverty, and consequently homelessness. It is therefore the belief of Marxist geographers that as long as capitalism exists, so to will poverty, unemployment and homelessness. The Homeless Link Report (2011), a partner agency which worked with the UK Government’s ‘No One Left Out’ rough sleeping strategy aimed to investigate how many people slept rough on a single night in England. They instructed councils to submit estimates of the number of people sleeping rough on the streets of their area and found an increase by 42% from 1,247 in 2009 to 1,768 in 2010. London had the highest number of rough sleepers on any average night with about 415. The report also found that a range of demographic factors have a significant effect on the probability someone will become homeless. It is the purpose of the remainder of this essay to explore and identify the socio-demographical factors that increase the likelihood of a person becoming homeless, and whether adequate policies can prevent increased and future homelessness. Quilgars and Anderson (1997) claim that young people are more likely to experience homelessness than any other age group and they found that young people aged 16-24 are considerably over-represented in homeless figures, accounting for 30% of homeless people. A range of social and economic structural factors are believed to have contributed to the rise in youth homelessness including changes to housing policy, the labour market and the benefit system. Evans (1996) also argues that young people may have little support and are unprepared for leaving home and are therefore at the greatest risk of becoming homeless. Increasing youth unemployment, combined with reduced access and supply of social housing have also significantly increased youth homelessness. Carlen (1996) also believes there is a link between youth homelessness and local authority care, in which she found 40% of young homeless people have at one time in their life been in care. This also suggests that homelessness could be the effect of a rough upbringing, with little family support or relations. Therefore when young people leave care at the age of 18, they have no one to rely on not only for financial support, but emotional support too. However, Pannell (2004) also highlights that 42,000 people over the age of 50 are also homeless and the elderly are also vulnerable to homelessness, and there is often less support for them because they generally fall down the gaps between strategies and services to reduce homeless rates. For example, Pannell (2004) argues that older people tend to be marginalized, with little specific provision or awareness in mainstream homelessness services for elderly people’s needs. She argues mental health, domestic violence or learning disability service provision is geared towards people of working age and don’t take the needs of the elderly into account of their service provisions. Further reasons for homelessness in the elderly include limited or no family or state support networks, bereavement, redundancy and physical health problems and disability. Mental health problems such as dementia can also increase the elderly chances of becoming homeless. The Homeless Link Report (2011) also reports that 90% of homeless people are men. Reasons why more men are homeless than women include the less support men get from the state because less men are primarily responsible for raising their children if a relationship breaks down, and so local authorities prioritise giving sheltered accommodation to women and their children. There is also a belief that men are better capable of being homeless because women may ‘fear the streets at night’, and homeless women might be seen as violating ‘traditional’ gender stereotypes of femininity by their failure to find a bed for the night. Therefore women are given higher priority than men for seeking refuge. However, Watson (1986) has highlighted that women often account for the ‘hidden homeless’, which means that there numbers aren’t recorded, e.g. the number of women placed in temporary accommodation such as hostels increased by 50% between 2003-2007 to 24,428, but these women aren’t officially recognized as homeless. The number of homeless women has also risen by nearly 80% since 2003 according to Lakhani and Merrick (2008), with 144,000 women currently on council waiting lists for social housing. There are a number of reasons why women become homeless. Hendessi (1992) claims a leading factor is because of sexual or physical abuse, in which women leave their home with nowhere else to go, and as a result are forced onto the streets. There are also economic arguments such as women working in less skilled jobs than men, which generally means they earn less money, and are less secure and often result in termination of employment contracts, which leads to some women not being able to afford rent, and therefore becoming homeless. Marriage breakdown can also lead to women becoming homeless according to Watson (1986) because houses are generally in their husband’s name, so when a marriage breaks down, women often have fewer legal rights to their home, especially if children aren’t involved and so have nowhere to live. Kushel et al (2005) also claim that people who are homeless at the time of their arrest are also over-represented in jails. Likewise, the Homeless Link Report (2011) found a disproportionate number of homeless people (32%) had been to prison in the past. Kushel et al (2005) claim that this cycle of ‘revolving prison door syndrome’ continuously happens because imprisonment can eventually lead to homelessness due to it disrupting and straining family and community relations and contacts. Therefore prisoners have nowhere to go once they are released. Having a criminal record also decreases ex-prisoners employment opportunities, which can lead to unemployment and homelessness according to Carlen (1996). There may also be fewer housing prospects for ex-prisoners due to them not being viewed as desirable tenants. Edgar et al (2004) also suggests that race and ethnicity are significant factors in determining vulnerability to homelessness and housing exclusion. They claim that overt and covert racial discrimination can occur in the allocation of public and private housing sectors, in which people from ethnic backgrounds may find it harder to get allocated social housing. They also highlight that the existing ethnic composition of a particular country can also affect homeless rates within ethnic minorities. For example, Indian immigrants coming into the UK may already have family and friends living here, and so they have a ready made support network, which can help them to initially find their feet, and seek employment and housing. Other minorities however might not be so lucky in having strong ethnic ties to an area, and they therefore find it harder to find work and integrate into their new society. The Homeless Link Report (2011) also fond that only 46% of current homeless people were White British, which is disproportionate to Britain’s overall White British population of 85%. A disproportionate 13% of homeless people were also found to come from a Black British origin. Debates as to whether people with particular characteristics are more likely to become homeless depends on government policy, economic conditions and a range of other social and cultural factors. For example, within the past decade, there has been a significant new approach in Government to preventing and tackling homelessness.  This has included moving away from an exclusive focus on the more extreme forms of homelessness - such as rough sleeping - and moves towards a wider approach of addressing other forms of homelessness such as hidden homelessness and their contributing factors. The Homelessness Act (2002) for example extends the definition of homelessness to include new vulnerable groups, such as women who currently reside in half way hostels, perhaps escaping from domestic violence. The act places requirements on Local Authorities to provide advice and information to homeless people about their current situations. Local Authorities must also develop their own homeless strategies, including an assessment of levels of homelessness and future trends to accommodate homeless people. The Supporting People Initiative (2003) also aims to improve housing related support services for vulnerable people, including those who might be at risk of homelessness. In conclusion, the arguments presented above suggest that people who fit a particular socio-demographical profiles are more likely than others to experience homelessness at some point in their lives. The homeless appear to be particularly young, male, ex-prisoners and of a different ethnic race to that of White British. However, there is also increasing recognition that many people aren’t reflected in homeless statistics, i.e. they are the ‘hidden homeless’. These groups include women and the elderly, who often end up homeless due a range of health, financial and inadequate service provision problems. I’ve therefore come to agree with Marxist theorists that homelessness is an inevitable consequence of the capitalist society in which we live in, and we can reduce it, but never eradicate it. References Carlen, P (1996) Jigsaw: A Political Criminology of Youth Homelessness. Buckingham. Open University Press. Chamberlain, C and Mackenzie, D (1992) Understanding Contemporary Homelessness: Issues of Definition and Meaning. Australian Journal of Social Issues. Vol 27 (1) pp 274-297. Edgar, B, Doherty, J and Meert, H (2004) Immigration and Homelessness in Europe. Bristol. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data. Evan, A (1996) ‘We Don’t Choose to be Homeless’. Cited in Burrows, R (1997) Homelessness and Social Policy. London. Routledge. Harvey, D (2005) A Brief History of Neo-liberalism. New York. Oxford University Press. Heinjes, A (2005) Responding to Homelessness; AHURI Research and Policy Bulletin, no 66; Melbourne: Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute. Available at www.housinginstitute.org/news/AHURI.pdf Hendessi, M (1992) Report on Young Women who Become Homeless as a Result of Sexual Abuse. Cited in Carlen, P (1996) Jigsaw: A Political Criminology of Youth Homelessness. Buckingham. Open University Press. Homeless Link Report (2011). Accessed on 10th May 2011. Available at http://www.homeless.org.uk/facts Johnston, R.J, Gregory, D, Pratt, G and Watts, M (2004) The Dictionary of Human Geography, 4th Edition. Oxford. Blackwell Publishing. Kushel, M.B, Hahn, J.A, Evans, J.L, Bangsberg, D.R and Moss, A.R (2005) Revolving Doors: Imprisonment Among the Homeless and Marginally Housed Population. American Journal of Public Health. Vol 95 (10), pp 1747-1752. Lakhani and Merrick (2008) Shocking Rise in Homelessness Among Women. The Independent. Accessed on 10th May. Available at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/shocking-rise-in-homelessness-among-women-883769.html Pannell, J (2004) Coming of Age: Opportunities for Homeless People Under Supporting People. UK Homeless Link – available at http://www.olderhomelessness.org.uk/documents/coming_of_age_findings.pdf Quilgars, D and Anderson, I (1997) Addressing the Problem of Youth Homelessness and Unemployment: The Contribution of Foyers. Cited in Burrows, R (1997) Homelessness and Social Policy. London. Routledge. Smith, J (2005) Hidden Homelessness and Definition of Homelessness in the UK – Some Issues for European Definitions of Homelessness, Paper for CUHP Network, April 2005, Centre for Housing and Community Research Cities Institute, London Metropolitan University Watson, S (1986) Housing and Homelessness: A Feminist Perspective. London, Routledge Publications. Read More