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.

The corner next to Harrods takes in the most money in the UK.

Our charity used a slogan that's often very true - Homeless people don't beg, and beggars aren't homeless.

@AngelasAshes

My bad, you are right. It was 80.5 as of last year www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/uk-population-by-ethnicity/national-and-regional-populations/population-of-england-and-wales/latest

Point that White Brotish people make up the vast majority of the population still stands though.

Because they’re not actually the most privileged.

Currently, the worst performing group at secondary school is white working class boys.

Well I know why they are mostly white. If the people living in a tent in my local corner park were black drug users and not white drug users they would have been arrested and moved on weeks ago.

Well 82% of the U.K. is white... so you’re mainly going to see white homeless people.

And mainly men as women find it easier to access support especially if they have a child.

"But women without kids are not prioritised and never have been"

Absofuckinlutely

A post of mine copied and pasted from another thread

Can we talk about an aspect of social housing that never gets discussed. The sexism. In 1991 (back in the mists of time before i met DH when i was 18 and still living with my parents) i went with a friend to the local council office who needed to find a flat. She was single. I still remember what was said to her all these years later. "Im sorry but there arent many available at the moment if you had a baby things would be different but we cant help you at the moment.

I met DH in 1992 and we moved into a small bedsit and lived there for two years and 3 months before we moved to where we are now.....

Single men WERE more likely to be housed than single women or couples (all this is without children) It was assumed that women would meet a man and move in with him. (this obvs meant a higher risk of abuse.

The final straw was when my best friends ex beat her yet again She finally gave him the boot and this violent druggie was rehoused within THREE DAYS. While women were being told Sorry we cant help unless you have a child.

We had an interview for a flat and we attended and towards the end of the interview i asked how likely it was we would get allocated a flat She said it could be a while. I brought up my friends ex and she said it was sooner for him because he was "vulnerable" Yep so vulnerable that he beat up a subsequent partner so badly she lost their baby. She had moved in with him because she had no other choice.

Anyway we did get offered a flat which is still the same one bedroom flat we are in now 25 years later.

Why? Because im childfree by choice and we have always been low income.

So we are still where we are because i havent reproduced. Im not moaning about it Just stating a fact.

I will point out though that if more lower income couples made the same choice as us there would be even less one bedroom places becoming available.

It is not true that BME communities are more likely to "look after their own". Certainly not with women anyway. I have worked with many street homeless Asian women. They don't sleep in shop doorways.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3654459-Housing-is-unaffordable-for-women-in-every-English-region-Womens-Budget-Group

I’ve seen so many homeless women. Most of them are white, yes, but certainly not all. But some problems of alcohol and drug abuse are more prevalent in the white population, and they tend to contribute to homelessness.

It used to be a lot of Scottish and Irish men, drink related. However I don’t know if that’s because my mum told me that and I just took it as fact (she’s Scottish).

Currently, the worst performing group at secondary school is white working class boys.

This is true. A lot of disenfranchised White Boys out there.

Definitely agree we need to be aware of this too!

Our charity used a slogan that's often very true - Homeless people don't beg, and beggars aren't homeless.

I have worked in homelessness prevention for sometime.
I just wanted to point out that there is a huge amount of funding and support for ex services. It was one of the first questions I would ask when someone was referred to us as homeless as it is much easier to get money for them. They have access to rent in advance, funding for furniture etc. It is often the associated MH and substance/alcohol misuse that is the issue with them engaging with support.

I’m in London and I also see predominantly white men followed by white women, often with very obvious signs of drug addictions. It feels like there has been a big increase recently, but I don’t know if that’s statistically true. It’s very sad though as so often with the people I now encounter I can not see any way they will be able to get themselves out of such a terrible state.

I live in London and regularly see black homeless people
That being said I come from a large west Indian family and my 3rd cousin that I'd never met came to london and naturally stayed with me. My white friends seemed surprised that I'd welcome a distant relative I'd never met before for 2 weeks. So perhaps there is something about the way family is regarded in British culture that leads to more homelessness.

Sweeping generalisation but I would guess that people who are Muslim or Hindu would get support from faith groups.

Menral health and whites don't seem to support each other like lots of other communities do.

I live in London. Most of the people I see on the street tend to be white males and they are a mix of Eastern European and white British. The very few women I see are white British and appear to have drug and MH issues.

I see very few BAME and those that I do see appear to have MH issues.

I think the white women must get in to ‘relationships’ with dodgy blokes to stay off the street. I also think many BAME are able to tap into an extended network to sofa surf. For example it’s not totally uncommon for people to take in extremely tenuously linked relatives in Caribbean cultures.

In any case the number of homeless has increased exponentially over the last few years. It’s a disgrace.

Social services have been cut to the bone and instead of funding them they’ve decided to increase prison places.

@slipperywhensparticus No they are not. See link below for definition of priority need for homelessness help:

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housingadvice/homelessness/rules/priorityy_need

The reason it's mostly men is because, as helenadove says, having dependant children is a priority for housing, and it's more commonly the woman who is the resident parent.

Women without children are not a priority above men. Many councils also do not accept DV or illness as being vulnerable. I have fertility issues and stay with my violent partner because being homeless is, in my opinion, more dangerous. I've been offered a place in a refuge but these places are temporary. I'm also unwell so likely can only earn part-time for the foreseeable. As you'll see from other threads on MN, many landlords don't take low earning tenants. Benefits are often less than market rents.

I do wonder how many drug using homeless people turned to drugs after becoming homeless, rather than becoming homeless because of addiction.

I volunteer in a homeless shelter in London and we definitely have a diverse range of male clients.

We have also seen more women and in general, women who are street sleepers are more vulnerable and damaged than the men. Women tend to have better social networks, family connections and potentially staying in relationships/sex for housing exchanges which mean they are less likely to sleep on the street.
The women on the street therefore are generally much more challenging to help as they are often people who really struggle with their interactions with people hence not having friends, family or terrible boyfriends to house them.

And just to reiterate a point made above - there is a lot of support and special funds/charities for ex- servicemen.
BUT they have to want to engage with the services on offer. And follow some rules like not being abusive or violent to staff or other clients. A fairly large chunk of all homeless men, including ex servicemen, are sufficiently mentally ill or damaged enough that they cannot access some of the services/funds/bursaries on offer because they find it difficult to behave in such a way that allows them to do so.

Controversial but I believe we should be sectioning more people - and requiring them to engage in medication and treatment in a residential unit followed by ongoing high quality support after release. Leaving people free to live in squalor on the street and illness is not really freedom.

@tiredandreadyforbed

I live on an estate I cant speak for the whole estate as its massive but i can speak for my section of it, the one bedroom flats are occupied by single men. Apart from this one where i live with DH. IME these are allocated to single men or couples But not single women.

Homelessness causes MH problems too. Often it’s a chicken and egg question. Is the person homeless because of MH? Or Do E.g. have MH conditions because they are homeless?

And often homeless people will turn to alcohol or drugs to escape the unremitting grim reality of no food, no shelter, no safety, and being ignored & shunned by society. Many had no drink or drug problem before they were homeless.

I think society doesn’t want to face the fact that many people in poverty are a job loss/illness/accident away from being homeless. So, society makes it into either a moral failing (avoidable) by blaming drink/drugs or into being mad (which most “respectable” people think can’t happen to them).