to wonder why the homeless population i see are overwhelming white men?

[staydazzling]

this is a genuine question, and observation so definitely not intended to be a bunfight, i just wonder why the escalating homeless issue seems to effect the population most people would view as one of the most privileged. i have a seen a few women, i do in balance live more rurally so maybe my general environment is more white anyway.But its tragic all the same.

Also when women sleep in the street they tend to try and hide and are less likely to sleep in shop doorways.

Ex prisoners, ex service men (many can't cope without the structure these provide or are damaged by experiences) mental health/drugs/alcohol - homelessness can become a revolving door - plus all reasons above about housing/social network.

We should be looking after all homeless people. Everyone has a story behind why they become homeless, no person is more worthy of support than another.

I was shocked by the level of homelessness and people sleeping on the streets when I was last in London. I lived there many years ago and noticed a real increase. There's more in the city where I live.

Demographics play a factor.

Women who sleep rough are less visible. They tend to pick places that are well off the beaten track so that they are less vulnerable.

Women are less conspicuous for safety reasons - lots of migrant workers sleep rough due to losing work and having no benefits or recourse to public funds Albanian workers for example - they tend to be white males - also yes - lots of ex service personnel are homeless

I would assume:

Ex servicemen (more likely to be white? And obviously men), I would guess many homeless are ex-forces
Incredibly unsafe for women to sleep rough so simply not even considered by homeless women?
White because BAME people have better support networks and less likely to be living isolated from family? And also less likely to drink?

Not idea if any of that is correct or a massive generalisation.

I used to volunteer at a shelter for refugees which was all men - only one woman in the 4 years I was there. The explanation was that the vast majority of women in that situation have children so are prioritised. Assume it's the same for homelessness - not directly cos they're women but because they have children.

Sadly this government has made a lot of policy decisions which have increased homelessness. Its gone up by a lot, as have things like discharge from hospital to street. Very inhumane and short sighted. To tackle the problems would be compassionate and make economic sense.

Yes if you have children you are prioritised for shelter. Women without kids are not prioritised over men without kids.

People from an ethnic minority are more likely to be homeless than white people. But not necessarily street homeless.
www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/housing/homelessness/statutory-homelessness/latest

@lemonsqueasy I have worked with a lot of Asian women who were homeless, many of whom were refugees. A lot were street homeless. I don't think most would have went near a centre dominated by men. Instead they accessed either women only services, or services provided by temples or mosques.

The growth in homelessness seems to be huge. As someone said, the closure of mental health hospitals put vulnerable people in the street.

The cost of housing? We don’t have enough housing as the population has grown hugely - people living longer, more people living as singles, as well as immigration. House building just hadn’t kept up with need.

I've heard it put this way:
"Men fall faster. Women fall further"

So a guy with an addiction might lose his job, run through the good will of his family and friends and end up on the street.

A woman will do some of the above but might also enter prostitution which puts off her descent to street homelessness but also allows her to develop a more expensive habit and burdens her with additional trauma.

I am so surprised that so many people answered this based on gender. I live in a very diverse city and see a lot of rough sleepers, the vast majority of whom are white. My knowledge tells me many are ex service personnel and I suspect that some BME cultures look after their own better.

*regards service personnel the story there is often that these are the young men for whom joining up was a choice to escape the life they had, and the military life exacerbated their existing issues rather than service life per se being an issue.

I work in West London and frequently see both homeless white men and women around the tube and along the high street. It's the only place I've seen so many homeless women though. I think they tend to flock to the area because it's wealthier and people are more likely to spare change.

How can you look at someone and know they have a mental health problem?? Sportsnight

"Around 1 in 8 rough sleepers in England are Women. Their average life span is 43."

I live in a fairly deprived town just outside manchester. There seems to be a fairly substantial homeless population up here, mainly male.
Something I've noticed locally but not sure if it's a universal thing is homeless men begging at traffic lights, particularly at major junctions and always the same ones - so for example there's always one at sainsburys exit.
They all have the same little cardboard plackards and I'm pretty sure they take it in turns as I recognise them.

While BAME men are more likely to be homeless, white men are more likely to be sleeping rough. Homeless includes people sofa surfing, living with relatives in overcrowded conditions.

So it’s really an exhibit how privilege in terms of escaping poverty is both determined by class and race.

Homelessness is a gendered issue too where men have a serious equity gap compared to women. Women are more likely to be given emergency housing and social housing than men.

I just read a really good book- nonfiction called The Salt Path by Radnor Winn. It’s autobiographical about a mature couple (50s) who lose their home & farm in Wales and end up homeless on £35/wk income. They decide if they have to be homeless in a tent, might as well hike the Coast Path. The husband is also terminally ill. It is an amazing book and Radnor Winn includes lots of research about homeless and augments it with her experience of being homeless for over a year.

*Raynor not Radnor (hate autocorrect )

87 is White British. You will find more of them doing everything, not just rough sleeping.

Homelessness, in a country is wealthy as this, should be an unfathomable thing. It is an absolute disgrace that we have people sleeping on pavements in the 5th or 7th (or whatever it is now) largest economy IN THE WORLD

*87% of the population

@Muna
Actually it’s 87% white (all ethnicities), but the latest stat on white + British is 82% from 2011 and it is lower now.

I have wondered about what seems like the relative lack of people of colour on the streets, considering their overrepresentation in the poorest groups (and I'm in London). My best guess is that more of them come from communities where they have support networks/extended family that help them out in some form?

OTOH in America, for example, it seems like a very big proportion of homeless people are POC.

Read a piece in the Times many yrs ago about Street corner homeless people. There is a racket going on where thugs will 'own' streetcorners and rent them out to anyone willing to hand over a chunk of the takings. 15 yrs ago they were making £400 a day. Some of them are doing quite well.