Family homelessness

Homeless child pictured sleeping rough with what appears to be their father.

Family homelessness refers to a family unit (often blood related) who do not have access to long term accommodation due to various circumstances such as socioeconomic status, access to resources and relationship breakdowns.[1] In some Western countries, such as the United States, family homelessness is a new form of poverty, and a fast growing group of the homelessness population.[2][3] Some American researchers argue that family homelessness is the inevitable result of imbalanced “low-income housing ratio” where there are more low-income households than there are low-cost housing units.[4] A study in 2018[specify] projected a total of 56,342 family households were recognized as homeless. Roughly 16,390 of these people were living in a place not meant for human habitation.[5] It is believed[by whom?] that homeless families make up about a third of the United States’ population, with generally women being the lead of the household.[6]

While scholars differ on conceptualizations of homelessness, whether it is a just temporary state through which people pass or if it is a permanent trait that emanates from individual characteristics, studies indicate for families, homelessness is a temporary state that is often resolved by the provision of subsidized housing.[7] It has been studied that most homeless families stay in homeless shelters for only a short time, and when they exit they typically do not return. About 20 percent have longer stays in shelters, but only a small number of families have repeat stays.[8]

  1. ^ Haskett.E, Mary; Perlman, Staci; Cowan Ann, Beryl (2014). Supporting Families Experiencing Homelessness Current Practices and Future Directions. New York: Springer Science + Business Media. ISBN 978-1-4614-8717-3.
  2. ^ Nunez, Ralph, and Cybelle Fox. "A snapshot of family homelessness across America." Political Science Quarterly 114, no. 2 (1999): 289-307.
  3. ^ "The Facts About Family Homelessness | Doorways". Doorways for Women and Families. Retrieved 2019-07-24.
  4. ^ McChesney, Kay Young. "Family homelessness: A systemic problem[dead link]." Journal of Social Issues 46, no. 4 (1990): 191-205.
  5. ^ "Children and Families". National Alliance to End Homelessness. Retrieved 2019-07-24.
  6. ^ Bassuk, Ellen L., and Lynn Rosenberg. "Why does family homelessness occur? A case-control study." American Journal of Public Health 78, no. 7 (1988): 783-788.
  7. ^ Shinn, Marybeth. "Family homelessness: State or trait?." American journal of community psychology 25, no. 6 (1997): 755-769.
  8. ^ Culhane, Dennis P., Stephen Metraux, Jung Min Park, Maryanne Schretzman, and Jesse Valente. "Testing a typology of family homelessness based on patterns of public shelter utilization in four US jurisdictions: Implications for policy and program planning." Housing Policy Debate 18, no. 1 (2007): 1-28.