{"id":352,"date":"2014-06-17T17:47:55","date_gmt":"2014-06-17T17:47:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/?post_type=chapter&p=352"},"modified":"2014-09-03T15:50:27","modified_gmt":"2014-09-03T22:50:27","slug":"homelessness-and-poverty-in-the-first-world","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/chapter\/homelessness-and-poverty-in-the-first-world\/","title":{"raw":"Homelessness and Poverty in the First World ","rendered":"Homelessness and Poverty in the First World"},"content":{"raw":"Homelessness is a complex social problem, and the characteristics of homelessness vary geographically (Gregory, Johnston, Pratt, Watts, & Whatmore,\u00a02009).\u00a0Homelessness has increased dramatically in the Global North since the 1970s especially among the most vulnerable populations (Takahashi, 1996).\r\n\r\nHomelessness, or the threat of homelessness, is not just people living or sleeping on the street. Sometimes homelessness is not visible, but it still exists where people are living in\u00a0abandoned buildings, living in tenements, using emergency shelters, using family or friends as places to stay or even \"couch surfing.\" The line between\u00a0being housed and being homeless is often not clear, as people can find themselves in a cycle of moving between temporary \"homes\" (e.g., staying with family or friends) and shelters for the homeless.\u00a0As well, many people\u00a0live\u00a0in housing that does not meet health and safety standards (e.g., the presence of mould;\u00a0inadequate electrical or heating systems). All of these living situations\u00a0put people at risk of poor physical, mental and emotional health.\r\n\r\nHomelessness is usually publicly stigmatized, and government policies that affect homeless people and their rights and access to public space are often harsh (Mitchell, 2003).\r\n\r\nCan you imagine that these scenes or situations take place in Canada and specifically in BC?\r\n

The Causes of Homelessness<\/h2>\r\nHomelessness is an outcome of the complex interplay of structural factors, systemic failures and individual circumstances (Gaetz, Donaldson, Richter, & Gulliver,\u00a02013):\r\n
    \r\n\t
  1. Structural factors are\u00a0where the cost of living has increased but without an adequate\u00a0increase in income, particularly for those in the lower income brackets or those on social assistance.<\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Systemic failures occur when people fall between the cracks of a country's systems of care.\u00a0For example, when people are discharged from hospitals or correctional facilities into emergency shelters or when youth transition out of the child welfare system.<\/li>\r\n\t
  3. Personal circumstances may come into play when\u00a0individuals and families experience catastrophic events such as job loss, illness or a\u00a0house fire. Traumatic events or health problems can add to the risk of becoming homeless when housing or income is\u00a0in short supply.<\/li>\r\n\t
  4. Family violence and conflict, particularly for women, children and youth, may push individuals to flee their homes in order to protect themselves.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","rendered":"

    Homelessness is a complex social problem, and the characteristics of homelessness vary geographically (Gregory, Johnston, Pratt, Watts, & Whatmore,\u00a02009).\u00a0Homelessness has increased dramatically in the Global North since the 1970s especially among the most vulnerable populations (Takahashi, 1996).<\/p>\n

    Homelessness, or the threat of homelessness, is not just people living or sleeping on the street. Sometimes homelessness is not visible, but it still exists where people are living in\u00a0abandoned buildings, living in tenements, using emergency shelters, using family or friends as places to stay or even “couch surfing.” The line between\u00a0being housed and being homeless is often not clear, as people can find themselves in a cycle of moving between temporary “homes” (e.g., staying with family or friends) and shelters for the homeless.\u00a0As well, many people\u00a0live\u00a0in housing that does not meet health and safety standards (e.g., the presence of mould;\u00a0inadequate electrical or heating systems). All of these living situations\u00a0put people at risk of poor physical, mental and emotional health.<\/p>\n

    Homelessness is usually publicly stigmatized, and government policies that affect homeless people and their rights and access to public space are often harsh (Mitchell, 2003).<\/p>\n

    Can you imagine that these scenes or situations take place in Canada and specifically in BC?<\/p>\n

    The Causes of Homelessness<\/h2>\n

    Homelessness is an outcome of the complex interplay of structural factors, systemic failures and individual circumstances (Gaetz, Donaldson, Richter, & Gulliver,\u00a02013):<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Structural factors are\u00a0where the cost of living has increased but without an adequate\u00a0increase in income, particularly for those in the lower income brackets or those on social assistance.<\/li>\n
    2. Systemic failures occur when people fall between the cracks of a country’s systems of care.\u00a0For example, when people are discharged from hospitals or correctional facilities into emergency shelters or when youth transition out of the child welfare system.<\/li>\n
    3. Personal circumstances may come into play when\u00a0individuals and families experience catastrophic events such as job loss, illness or a\u00a0house fire. Traumatic events or health problems can add to the risk of becoming homeless when housing or income is\u00a0in short supply.<\/li>\n
    4. Family violence and conflict, particularly for women, children and youth, may push individuals to flee their homes in order to protect themselves.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"menu_order":3,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-352","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":224,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1316,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/352\/revisions\/1316"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/224"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/352\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=352"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=352"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}