Time as a source of struggle and resilience in homeless families

Abstract

A common myth about families living in homeless shelters is that they are laconically and contentedly waiting around for housing, financial support through welfare or jobs, and other resources and services. Nothing could be further from the truth. Single parents in shelters dealing with inequities incurred by poverty are busy trying to procure housing, jobs, and other resources while managing children’s behavior and homework, and while attempting to maintain the family’s sense of relational and emotional integrity. Thirty-six African American, Afro-Caribbean, and Latinx families living in a New York City shelter were interviewed about the time challenges they face and their means of coping with those challenges. Six themes emerged: (1) franticness, time pressure, and sense of having not enough time; (2) the temporal unpredictability of daily life; (3) the unpredictability of time to live in shelter; (4) anxious waiting for next steps toward employment and housing; (5) the shelter’s control of time; and (6) the importance of family time and strategies used to sustain it. These findings are discussed using theoretical perspectives about the elements of temporal behavior, as well as research on time and personal agency, and recommendations are made for professionals working to support homeless families, especially around their temporal challenges.