Title:

Homelessness in Society

Publish Date:

September 2010

ISBN:

978 1 86168 562 9

Covering Ages:

11 to 14 years

Issue Description

While rough sleepers may be seen as the face of homelessness, in fact homelessness can take many forms. It also includes the ‘hidden homeless’: individuals and families living in temporary accommodation, staying with friends and family or ‘sofa surfing’. This book explores the causes and effects of this ever-present social problem, including information on young homeless people, the health of rough sleepers and the help available to those without a home.

The information comes from a variety of sources, including government reports and statistics, newspapers and magazine articles, surveys and polls, academic research and literature from charities and lobby groups; articles have been tailored to an 11 to 14 age group. Additionally, at the end of each chapter are two pages of activities relating to the articles and issues raised in that chapter.

Price:

£5.95

Quantity:

Key Facts

• Many people only associate homelessness with sleeping on the streets, but this conceals the range and scale of the problem. The reality is that the vast majority of homeless people are families or single people who are not sleeping rough. (page 1)
  
  
• 23 per cent of people accepted as homeless in the last quarter of 2008 gave parents being unwilling or unable to accommodate them as the primary reason for the loss of a secure home. (page 2)
  
  
• Last year in England, 76 street counts were carried out. They found a total of 464 people sleeping rough on any given night, a reduction from the previous year’s figure of 483. (page 5)
  
  
• Nationally, there are 183 day centres serving an estimated 10,000 people per day. (page 7)
  
  
• Young people aged between 16 and 25 made up 39 per cent of the total homeless population during 2005/06, based on Government figures for England. (page 9)
  
  
• An estimated 100,000 children and young people run away each year in the UK for a wide variety of reasons such as physical, sexual, verbal or emotional abuse, neglect and peer pressure. (page 10)
  
  
• As many as 70 per cent of homeless people suffer from a health problem. (page 13)
  
  
• With an employment rate of 15 per cent, homeless people are five times less likely than the wider population to be in employment. However, the vast majority of homeless people want to work either now (77 per cent) or in the future (97 per cent). (page 22)

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Table of Contents

Chapter One: Homelessness Issues

What is homelessness? Causes and effects of homelessness, Sofa surfing, Rough sleeping, Youth homelessness, Young runaways, Asylum seeker suffering hits new depths, Happiness matters, Activities.

Chapter Two: Homelessness Solutions

Homelessness prevention, Why giving to those who beg does more harm than good, Work and skills, The Big Issue – how we work, Activities.

Key facts

Glossary

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