Homelessness Policies in the Liberal and the Southern European Welfare Regimes: Ireland, Portugal, and Greece

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article compares homelessness policies in representative countries of the liberal and Southern European welfare regimes: Ireland, Portugal, and Greece. These are countries where austerity policies were implemented by the Troika during the crisis. After a brief review of the literature on welfare regimes and homelessness, the characteristics of homelessness policies in the liberal and Southern European model are studied. Subsequently, using the scholarly bibliography, research reports, and primary data, homelessness policies in the three countries are compared. In terms of methodology, this is achieved by developing three axes of analysis: the historical development of homelessness policies, the impact of austerity policies on the deterioration of homelessness, and the characteristics of the homelessness policies being developed during the crisis. It is established that the three countries consolidate a residual model of social intervention that fails to adequately address increasing homelessness.