What causes homelessness and houselessness people?

Personal causes of homelessness and houselessness:

A number of different personal and social factors can contribute towards people becoming homeless. These may include one or more of the following:

• Individual factors including lack of qualifications, lack of social support, debts - especially mortgage or rent arrears, poor physical and mental health, relationship breakdown, and getting involved in crime at an early age. 

• Family background including family breakdown and disputes, sexual and physical abuse in childhood or adolescence, having parents with drug or alcohol problems, and previous experience of family homelessness. 

• An institutional background including having been in care, the armed forces, or in prison. 

Tackling these problems is a complex business and normally requires support from public bodies, friends and family, combined with a lot of hard work from the individual or family in trouble. Public support might include intervention, advice, counselling, training or provision of alternative accommodation by a local authority where appropriate.

However, in all instances Shelter believes these problems can be best resolved when the person or family in question has a decent and secure home

Structural causes of homelessness and houselessness:

Structural causes of homelessness are social and economic in nature, and are often outside the control of the individual or family concerned.

These may include:

• unemployment 
• poverty 
• a lack of affordable housing 
• housing policies 
• the structure and administration of housing benefit 
• wider policy developments, such as the closure of long-stay psychiatric hospitals. 

These problems require long-term policy solutions such as changes in the housing benefit system, the building of more affordable homes, and ensuring that a wider cross-section of society benefits from the fruits of economic growth.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• Why are people homeless? (2014). The Salvation Army. Recovered in: June 1st, 2015. Available in: http://www.salvationarmy.org.au/en/Who-We-Are/our-work/Homelessness/Why-are-people-homeless/ 
• Top Causes of Homelessness in America (2007). Home Aid America. Recovered in: June 1st, 2015. Available in: http://www.homeaid.org/homeaid-stories/69/top-causes-of-homelessness