Housing Exclusion Research Articles

Emergency department utilisation by homeless children in Dublin, Ireland: a retrospective review

IntroductionDespite increasing prevalence, European family homelessness remains under-researched.MethodsA retrospective review was performed of homeless children attending a paediatric emergency department in Dublin, Ireland, from 1 January 2017 to 31 December...

Genero indarkeria eta etxebizitza ez seguruko emakumeen bizitegi bazterketaren intersekzioa SARS-CoV-2 koronabirus pandemiaren garaian

In March 2020 Spain and many other countries around the world stablished lockdown, without considering the insecurity it meant for gender-based violence women. Considering this context, the paper is built on a study that addresses the intersection of gender-based violence and the housing exclusion of women living in insecure housing during the coronavirus pandemic. Through Narrative Productions technique there have participated four associations of Greater Bilbao that work with women who suffer gender violence, building narratives putting together different voices. The main findings indicate that lockdown has not only aggravated gender-based violence in women, but also negatively impacted on their living situation. Narrative Productions have overcome the androcentric vision of housing exclusion and have make possible an approach to realities that remained invisible under its definition.

Housing after care: understanding security and stability in the transition out of care through the lenses of liminality, recognition and precarity

ABSTRACT There is a well-documented association between histories of state care and housing instability. This paper examines care leavers’ experience of securing housing during the transition out of care through the lenses of liminality, Recognition theory, and precarity. Conducted in Ireland, sixteen care-experienced youth were recruited to a qualitative longitudinal study. The findings demonstrate how aftercare policies and a lack of affordable housing combined to create precarity for many, which also had implications for their feelings of recognition as young people. For those who remained in their foster care placements or transitioned to supported lodgings, housing stability engendered feelings of being cared for by creating a liminal space where growth was supported. Those, on the other hand, who left their foster care placements at the age of 18 or were forced to leave time-limited aftercare housing were pushed into precariousness, placing them at high risk for homelessness and housing exclusion. These young people felt misrecognised and disrespected by the state and the aftercare system. The findings highlight the deleterious consequences of time-limited aftercare supports for care leavers’ sense of security and their ability to achieve valued life goals. The implications of the study's findings for leaving care and aftercare policies are discussed.

The Association of Interpersonal Relationships and Social Services with the Self-Rated Health of Spanish Homelessness

Understanding the specific factors associated with poor health is critical to improve the health of homeless people. This study aimed to analyze the influence of personal variables, interpersonal relationships, and the influence of social services on the health of homeless people. A secondary analysis was applied to cross-sectional data from a sample of 1382 homeless people living in the Basque Country (Spain) (75.69% male). Multinomial logistic regression modelling was used to analyze the relationship between health and personal variables, interpersonal variables, perceived help and use of the social services. Relationships with the family, using a day center, and a sufficient and high perceived help of the social services were significant factors associated with good health. On the other hand, spending the day alone or using mental and health care services are associated with poor health. In the same way, the longer a person has been homeless, the worse their expected state of health is. Addressing housing exclusion, promoting interpersonal relationships, using a day center, and developing the use and perceived helpfulness of social services stand out as key factors in improving health status. Social policies are usually focused on housing. However, this paper also highlights the relevance of developing interpersonal relationships and using day centers to improve homeless people’s health.

Locked Out: The Systematic Exclusion of Poor Renters From Federally Subsidized Housing

ABSTRACT Affordable housing is a critical resource with serious ramifications for a range of outcomes for low-income households. However, low-income prospective tenants are often denied subsidized housing through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on the basis of factors directly or indirectly related to their poverty and racialized identities. This study assesses how the admissions policies of public housing authorities and Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance developments in Rhode Island define criteria for denial on the basis of applicants’ criminal legal history, alcohol use, landlord history, and credit history. Three key findings emerge from this study that highlight the endemic nature of housing exclusion and elucidate how it is enacted. First, the plans include grounds for denial that far exceed the HUD-mandated criteria and utilize long lookback periods. Second, plans lack clarity and transparency. Third, admissions criteria vary significantly by development characteristics. Policy interventions include increased oversight and transparency and advocacy for inclusionary language.

Housing as a determinant of health for older LGBT Canadians: Focus group findings from a national housing study

ABSTRACT This article shares key focus group findings from a national study focused on the housing needs of older (55+) lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Canadians. LGBT populations have and continue to face systemic discrimination and barriers to appropriate housing across the life course, and yet little attention has been given to solutions. Many older LGBT adults live alone, face poverty, and have limited familial supports which impact on their housing options. The purpose of this research was to examine how the housing needs of older LGBT Canadians are addressed at community, organizational, and policy levels. Focus group participants in five Canadian provinces were asked to describe their experiences and perceptions of safe, affordable, affirming housing for older LGBT people. Five themes from the data help guide housing providers and policymakers in improving housing for older LGBT Canadians: (a) understanding lifelong and evolving fears of discrimination among older LGBT populations, (b) recognizing diversity among older LGBT populations, (c) operationalizing LGBT-inclusive housing philosophies, (d) addressing isolation and exclusion through housing interventions, and (e) providing LGBT people with tools to access appropriate housing. These themes offer practical policy and programming approaches to address the housing needs and concerns of older LBGT Canadians.

The stranded cinderella and the wandering rascal. Two narratives of female housing exclusion

This article examines the life stories of two young Polish women who have faced severe marginalization and homelessness. The main aim of this article is to investigate how the notions of (in)visibility and (im)mobility are shaping participants' everyday lives and life stories they tell. Using concepts drawn from social sciences, as well as cultural and literary studies, this article attempts to reconstruct the narrative frameworks of their life stories. Marzena's story is a non-linear collection of adventures reminiscent of a picaresque novel, but with fractured agency, which leaves her powerless and restlessly moving around the city. Angelika, on the other hand, is trapped in a two-room dilapidated house with no running water, located in a rural part of Poland. Her narrative resembles a telenovela with melodramatic plot twists, romance and hard-to-believe revelations about the narrator's true self; further, it is a purposeful journey in search for happiness and fortune. Surprisingly, Marzena's mobility makes it unlikely for her to overcome homelessness, while the stranded Angelika finds the resilience necessary to improve her life. The proposed analysis contributes to a deeper understanding of women's experiences of homelessness and demonstrates the need to regard housing exclusion also as a biographical process.

Housing conditions in social housing stock vs. marginalisation risk – evidence from Poland

Low-income households in the Polish public housing stock sometimes encounter the risk of housing exclusion, yet this experience is relatively more frequent among the tenants of council flats. The aim of this paper is to present the results of research on housing standards in the public housing stock in Poland. Pursuant to Polish law, social housing is part of public housing assistance (Przymeński 2016), addressed to very-low- and low-income households which are not capable of satisfying their housing needs on their own. The paper uses desk research, statistical data analysis and questionnaire interviews with dwellers of council flats in Poland. Furthermore, the achievements of international housing policy are taken into account. The results show that the standard in the public stock, especially in council flats, in Poland is poor and hinders low-income households in addressing their hous- ing needs. Small areas of dwellings, overcrowding, low quality of building materials are all identified as significant determinants increasing the risk of housing exclusion in council flats.

Influence of Psychosocial Variables on the Health of People Living in Housing Exclusion.

The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of some personal characteristics, health variables, and social support on the self-rated health of people in housing exclusion in Spain. For that purpose, we used the FOESSA Survey of Social Integration and Needs database, with a final sample of 1574 households. Being more educated and reporting a good life satisfaction stood out as the main factors preventing worse health status. Furthermore, results showed that being female, experiencing poverty-related food insecurity, not having health insurance, experiencing widowhood or partner bereavement, and having caring responsibilities for others or having a disabled person in the household are associated with increased reporting of regular or poor health. On the other hand, being young, having a diagnosed/long-term illness, and a big household size are preventive factors for good health. These results allowed identifying risk and prevention factors to inform interventions to improve the health of those living in housing exclusion. Promoting better education levels, social support, and overall life satisfaction could be important to improve health in this population. Developing social support policies for caring responsibilities and food insecurity must be a priority to improve the health of people living in housing exclusion.

Population-Poverty Linkages and Health Consequences

Population dynamics and determinants of poverty are associated in a way that affects access to resources which influence health. The popular belief often is that population growth causes problems including poverty. Scientific arguments, however, have fairy well established that it is the nature of development, which is important to ensures availability, access and utilization of resources, services and opportunities for different population groups. Population growth is an insufficient explanation for denial of access to resources because development disparities across globe render different populations exposed to vulnerabilities of varied kinds. Disparities in health between different social groups are the function of unequal way in which the determinants of health are distributed in society. Beyond its effects on health, inequality has far reaching consequences on social trust and cohesion affecting social institutions; and also on mortality and health outcomes. Factors such as income, employment status, housing, education, social position, and social exclusion have direct and indirect bearings on health over lifetimes. In many countries there is evidence of a social gradient in health, with those in more advantaged positions enjoying generally better health and lower mortality. In India, caste is an important axes on which discrimination and denial occurs causing poor health outcome. In term of income and social indicators, India is one of the most unequal countries in the world. The present paper endeavours to understand the determinants of disparity among population groups across countries which influence access to health care with special reference to India.
 

The Role of Guanxi in Social Exclusion against the Background of Social Stratification: Case Studies of Two Chinese Villages

ABSTRACT This article is based on two case studies of social exclusion in two Chinese villages against the background of social stratification.Five types of social exclusion of the poor—housing, marriage, renqing, ritual, and gossip exclusion—are identified, which shrink the guanxi networks held by the poor. This in turn weakens their social and ritual capital and lowers their social status,leading to the reproduction of inequality. The research presented here finds that the vertical exclusiveness of guanxi, which is based on the concepts of in-group and out-group separation, superior and inferior separation, and symmetrical reciprocity, results in social exclusion of the poor. This process is underpinned by the instrumental use of the traditional Confucian ritual(li), in which ideas of modern social welfare, equality, and universalism are insufficient.

Homelessness and self-rated health: evidence from a national survey of homeless people in Spain

BackgroundInternationally, acute homelessness is commonly associated with complex health and social care needs. While homelessness can be understood as an outcome of structural housing exclusion requiring housing led solutions, the health care issues faced by homeless people equally require attention. A substantive evidence base on the health needs of homeless people exists, but relatively little is known about what influences the self-rated health of homeless people. This article presents new evidence on whether drug use (alcohol consumption, ever having used drugs), health variables (visiting a hospital once in the last year, visiting the doctor in the last month, having a health card, sleeping difficulties, and having a disabling impairment) and sociodemographic characteristics are significantly associated with Self-Rated Health (SRH) among Spanish homeless people.MethodThe approach applies secondary analysis to cross-sectional data from a sample of 2437 homeless adults in Spain (83.8% were male). Multinomial logistic regression modelling was used to analyse the relationships between drug use, other health variables and SRH.ResultsBeing male, an abstainer, having a health card and being in the youngest age groups were significant factors associated with perceived good health. On the other hand, ever having used drugs, having been a night in hospital, having gone to the doctor in the last month, having sleeping difficulties, having a disabling impairment and being in the older age group were all significant risk factors associated with perceived poor health.ConclusionsThese results help to improve understanding of the key factors that influence the SRH among homeless people. The findings can contribute to development and delivery of preventive policies, suggesting that interventions to reduce drug consumption and ensure access to a health card/health services, as well as enhancing services for older, female and disabled homeless people are all measures which could improve health and well-being for those who face homelessness. Effective housing interventions (e.g. Housing First or Permanent Supported Housing programmes) are equally important to underpin the effectiveness of measures to improve the self-rated health of homeless people.

Benevolent Evictions and Cooperative Housing Models in Post-Ondoy Manila

In this paper, I forward the concept of benevolent evictions to describe a new mode of dispossession, whereby expulsions from the urban core to the periphery are facilitated through the deployment of benevolence as a technology of eviction. Drawing on the experience of a community association in Pasig City, a part of Metro Manila in the Philippines, I examine how benevolent evictions, as materialized in The People’s Plan, reconfigured community participation and activist contestations. I distill the politics of participation by troubling practices of inclusion in housing affairs and exclusion in flood control matters; and critically assess the implications of non-transgressive co-production models on organizing for housing justice. While democratizing housing solutions did not necessarily result in the democratization of participation, I argue that the contradictions that emerge present radical possibilities for rewriting the politics of participation toward the transformation of slum-state and citizen-state relations.

The Pathways to Homelessness in the Post-Soviet Context

Homelessness is a complex problem, resulting from a combination of housing and social exclusion processes. This paper discusses some theoretical discourses regarding understanding homelessness and the major factors contributing to homelessness (rooflessness) in the post-soviet country of Georgia. “Roofless” people are the most vulnerable group who need special attention while currently there is no national strategy on homelessness in place. Mixed methods were used to study homeless people living in a special shelter in Tbilisi. In total, 70 homeless (mean age = 48, male – 64%, female – 36%) were interviewed by semi-structural questionnaire. The results showed that a structural factor—unemployment (90%) was the major cause of homelessness. Moreover, almost half of the beneficiaries of emergency shelters need assistance in finding jobs even though they have high academic or professional education. In contrast to European roofless people who have multiple and serious support needs and problems (mental health, drag addiction, chronic homelessness), the majority of interviewed roofless people in Georgia are with less burdened life stories and can be more easily rehabilitated in the case of timely intervention, accommodation, and the proper national strategy on homelessness. Some recommendations for alleviating social segregation of homeless people are highlighted.

Acessibilidade e Tecnologia na Construção da Cidade Inteligente

Resumo O crescimento populacional resultante do processo de urbanização sem o devido planejamento gerou uma série de problemas sociais nas cidades, tais como acesso à moradia, violência, desemprego e exclusão social. Neste contexto, questões ligadas à acessibilidade surgem de forma proeminente, principalmente considerando o aumento da conscientização das pessoas pela igualdade de direitos. Entretanto, o uso da tecnologia permite uma revisão deste problema ajudando não somente as questões relativas à acessibilidade, mas, sobretudo, no sentido de tornar as cidades mais humanas e inteligentes. A partir deste contexto, este trabalho objetivou a construção de um artefato tecnológico com vistas a mitigar o problema e propagar informações acerca da acessibilidade. Para isso, foram buscados fundamentos nos conceitos de crowdsensing e cidades inteligentes, utilizando a design research como método. As técnicas de coleta de dados abrangeram questionários fechados, entrevistas e dados iconográficos. O resultado final foi a apresentação de um aplicativo que pode ser acessado em um computador ou smartphone, de forma ativa ou passiva.

“A place under the sun”: African American Resistance to Housing Exclusion

Melissa Lang was one of three panelists at a public history roundtable at the Oregon Historical Society commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the 1968 Fair Housing Act. In this record of her presentation, Lang documents African American resistance to housing exclusion by highlighting stories of those Portlanders who “fought back and uplifted their community from within.” Three ways that resistance manifested included Black realtors and investors who helped circumnavigate the system of exclusionary practices and redlining; Black-owned banks and credit unions that provided loans for property upkeep; and Black activist organizations beginning in the 1940s that advocated for better housing policies. Lang argues that by “capitalizing on their industriousness,” these resisters “developed a network of realtors and investment opportunities when they were otherwise excluded, and they founded and utilized community organizations to keep the work of the city and the state in check.”

“A place under the sun”: African American Resistance to Housing Exclusion

“A place under the sun”: African American Resistance to Housing Exclusion

Descriptive Study of Roofless People in the Post Soviet Georgia

Homelessness is a complex problem, resulting from a combination of housing and social exclusion processes. This paper discusses the major factors contributing to homelessness in the post soviet Georgia. Though there is no consensus on understanding conceptual typology, the causes and complexity of homelessness, there are currently three categories of homeless people identified as “homeless” in Georgia. Among them so called “Roofless” people are the most vulnerable groups who need special attention while there is no national strategy on homelessness in place. Mixed methods were used to study homeless people living in a special shelter in Tbilisi. In total, 70 homeless (Mean Age =48, Male – 64%, Female – 36%) were interviewed by semi-structural questionnaire.The results showed that a structural factor - unemployment (90%) is the major cause of homelessness. The other factors include: lack of support system (69%), relationship problems or family breakdown (66%), health problems (64%), mental problems (44%), internal migration (39%), leaving prison (26%), substance abuse (16%). The profile of homeless persons in Georgia is a middle-aged single man; however, the numbers of homeless women, elderly and younger people as well as families with children are growing.Furthermore the paper suggests that understanding the local contexts of poverty can assist government for building the proper national strategy on homelessness and facilitate social inclusion of the most disadvantaged groups of people.

Do We Have the Knowledge to Address Homelessness?

AbstractVarious forms of housing exclusion are a reality for millions of people across the globe. For people who are homeless in advanced industrialized economies, housing exclusion often co-exists with social service engagement. This essay reviews three books about how homelessness is conceptualized and caused, and how we, as social service providers and social scientists, respond to homelessness: Housing First: Ending Homelessness, Transforming Systems, and Changing Lives, by Deborah Padgett, Benjamin Henwood, and Sam Tsemberis; Women Rough Sleepers in Europe: Homelessness and Victims of Domestic Abuse, by Kate Moss and Paramjit Singh; and The Value of Homelessness: Managing Surplus Life in the United States, by Craig Willse. It concludes that Housing First achieves justice for deeply marginalized individuals but that the effectiveness of Housing First represents a disturbing reminder of our failed welfare states and public institutions.

Breaking the cycle of discrimination? Traveller/Roma housing exclusion and the European Convention on Human Rights

Recent legal and policy developments concerning Europe’s Traveller/Roma have brought into sharp focus the structural inequalities facing traditionally nomadic minorities. Despite such interventions however, European human rights norms have struggled to address an equality challenge that exists at the interface of indirect discrimination, socio-economic rights and multiculturalism. To illustrate the policy and legislative dynamics underpinning Traveller/Roma exclusion, this article critically analyses the difficulties of accessing culturally appropriate housing for the Irish Travelling Community. It highlights how Irish litigation on behalf of Travellers has tested the boundaries of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, particularly the extent to which a minimum core of accommodation provision may be secured. The article argues that the recent European Court on Human Rights case of Winterstein v. France provides fresh impetus for the protection of Traveller/Roma cultural identity in the housing sphere.