Homelessness and Poverty in the First World

 

A Face Of Homelessness And Poverty We Don’t Always See

• Homelessness and poverty are prevalent in our society, however not all bear witness to it. It can be particularly difficult knowing how many children suffer from the

 homelessness epidemic. Steve Pomeroy describes three ways to make a difference.

Homelessness, or the threat of homelessness, is not just people living or sleeping on the street. Sometimes homelessness is not visible, but it still exists where people are living in abandoned buildings, living in tenements, using emergency shelters, using family or friends as places to stay or even “couch surfing.” The line between being housed and being homeless is often not clear, as people can find themselves in a cycle of moving between temporary “homes” (e.g., staying with family or friends) and shelters for the homeless. As well, many people live in housing that does not meet health and safety standards (e.g., the presence of mould; inadequate electrical or heating systems). All of these living situations put people at risk of poor physical, mental and emotional health.

Research on homelessness has tended to focus on problems of homeless individuals, sometimes diverting attention from underlying causes and reinforcing stereotypes about the population. A more comprehensive model of homelessness would include factors at the levels of individuals, social groups, and the socioeconomic context that contribute to homelessness. Papers in this issue investigate key factors at each of these levels. They consider the scope of homelessness and the history of society's responses, individual problems as both consequences and causes of homelessness, dynamics of entry to and exits from homelessness, and pertinent social policy at both micro- and macrolevels.

It’s anti-poverty week and I want to tell you about homelessness. Why? Because homelessness is caused by poverty.

And no, homelessness is not caused by mental illness, poor living skills, choice, drug addiction, alcoholism, unemployment, brain injury, intellectual disability, physical disability, illness or family breakdown. These things can all create poverty and poverty can lead to homelessness.

Poverty doesn’t, of course, always lead to homelessness, but poverty is the underlying cause of all homelessness. I am yet to meet a wealthy unemployed or mentally ill person who is chronically homeless. Family breakdown can mean that someone previously well supported in a home and a relationship with an employed spouse must suddenly try to live on support payments or a single parent benefit. Anyone living on benefit payments in Australia is living in poverty.

In Australian cities housing has become so expensive to rent or buy that anyone living in poverty has great trouble finding affordable housing. Not being able to afford housing, because you are poor and housing is expensive leads to homelessness.

So, why am I telling you these basic facts?

Because homelessness is widely misunderstood and it is time for those of us that know more about homelessness to clarify exactly what causes it. I’m mindful that current public discourse on homelessness very rarely mentions poverty and unaffordable housing. Instead, I am seeing an increase in the misunderstanding of it and a certain ‘pathologising’ of those who experience homelessness.

One of the reasons I know this is because the Mercy Foundation has a grants program that has a focus on ending homelessness. We invite community organisations to submit proposals to undertake projects that will ‘end’ the experience of homelessness for a particular group or number of people or families in their community. You’d think there would be widespread mention of linking people with affordable housing – but no, not much.

Far too many groups would like to run living skills courses or education programs or case management or any number of activities which don’t neccessarily include linking people with any type of housing. Don’t get me wrong, these can be incredibly worthwhile things to do and there are definitely some quite vulnerable people who need those types of supports to sustain housing. However, everyone – vulnerable or not – needs housing. First.

The notion that every person who becomes homeless has inadequate living skills is patronising. Some do, some don’t. The notion that everyone should do a living skills course or somehow prove they have adequate living skills before being offered housing is seriously problematic. For two reasons, the streets are an unsafe place to live and a living skills course (if needed) is far more effective if you have a home, a base, a community in which you might be able to apply those living skills.

I call this approach ‘case managing’ people out of homelessness. There is no evidence for its effectiveness. It doesn’t work. Stop trying to do it. The saying that “if you only have a hammer, everything looks like a nail” is relevant here. If you have no houses, but you do have several case managers and a couple of educators – everything looks like it needs to be case managed or educated.

Such things are incredibly useful, when needed, when they are provided in conjunction with housing. So is employment. Having a job relieves poverty and addresses homelessness. But can you imagine trying to get a job or continue a job whilst you have no stable place to live? Nowhere to shower, nowhere to cook, nowhere to prepare for work, nowhere safe and nowhere to store your clothes and other belongings?

There is a high proportion of mentally unwell people who are homeless, not because of their mental illness. It is because too many people diagnosed in early adulthood end up living in long term unemployment and poverty. Living on a disability support pension keeps you poor and sometimes makes you homeless. Living with the impact of relapses in your illness can create disruption to living arrangements that are not easily dealt with when you have little money and your problem solving skills may have been compromised during your relapse.

Of course, it is a great pity that addicts and alcoholics are also over-represented in the homeless population. I still haven’t met a wealthy addict who is homeless. Being addicted to something makes you poor, very poor. It is also not unreasonable to suggest that many addicts have created their own poverty. I’d be the very first to agree that a fulfilling life and a stable housing career is only possible if the addiction is appropriately dealt with. However, while the answer here is about treatment and recovery, it is also most definitely about housing. Ever tried to get clean on the streets? Nope, that doesn’t work either.

It is also important to place addictions and homelessness in context. Many homeless addicts had a poor start in life and were themselves brought up in poverty. There is even some growing evidence that some homeless people acquire an addiction or mental health problem after becoming homeless (not always before). Homelessness itself is traumatic and traumatising.

So, during anti-poverty week have another think about the causes of and solutions to homelessness. Whilst there is no easy answer over the long term and some homeless people will need to recover, be treated, be case managed and be educated. The very first response to homelessness must always be about housing.