After our society’s first annual conference last year, our committee have been reflecting some of the insights our wonderful speakers provided.
One point that resonated with me was when one of the speakers said "homelessness is not a community". What is the impact of framing homelessness as a community? When we speak of the 'homeless community' are we are homogenising diverse groups of people? Can this lead us to make false assumptions about the people we are talking about? And does the discussion of the ‘homeless community’ create an artificial separation between people who are homeless are people who aren’t?
A survey by Shelter in 2019 found that 45% of private renters in England could not afford to pay their rent for more than a month if they lost their job 1. The ongoing pandemic is likely to have worsened this statistic. The number of people living one pay check away from homelessness demonstrates how fragile the separation between those of us who are homeless and those who aren’t, making discussions about the ‘homeless community’ feel redundant.
Another speaker discussed the 'hidden homeless'. This is the notion that there are many different reasons for becoming homeless and different forms
of homelessness, some of which are less visible than others. Forms of homelessness that are less visible than rough sleeping include living in inadequate housing (e.g. overcrowding or in caravans on illegal campsites), living in insecure housing (e.g. threatened with se
vere exclusion due to eviction) and houselessness (e.g. sleeping in temporary accommodation).
Furthermore, there are many different reasons why people become homeless. The most common reasons for men to become homelessness are relationship breakdown, harmful substance misuse and mental ill health. Whereas the most common reason for women to be homeless is domestic violence from men towards women. Women tend to present later to services seeking support than men, this is partly because women's experiences of homelessness are can be more hidden than men's and as a result services are more geared towards the needs of homeless men.
Gendered experiences of homelessness are only one example of why homelessness is not one big, homogenised community and experiences can vary largely. It is important to be mindful that 'homelessness' is a vast umbrella term that encompasses diverse people with multiple different reasons for becoming homeless and that the way in which people experience homelessness can vary greatly due to factors such as gender, sexuality and having no recourse to public funds. When conducting research and designing and implementing homelessness services, we should always continue to ask who is being excluded and consider the different ways in which people can experience homelessness. We should actively involve people with diverse lived experiences of homelessness in this work.
Emily, Education Officer
References:
Shelter. 2019. ‘Almost half of working renters only one paycheque away from losing their home. Available at: https://england.shelter.org.uk/media/press_release/almost_half_of_working_renters_only_one_paycheque_away_from_losing_their_home. [accessed on 24/03/21]