The Problem Of Homeless Women

Homeless people are a vulnerable population in many respects that they always face discrimination and exclusion because of their housing condition. It is a social problem that typically low wages and shortage of affordable housing are the main factors contributing to homelessness. In fact, many poor people face significant barriers to maintain stable housing because they don’t have accessibilities to increase their economic stability. Overall, there are significant factors that contribute to homelessness that many homeless people usually struggle with limited access to resources, lack of information about services, and lack of support systems.

     To be homeless is to not have a home or a permanent place of residence. Nationwide, there is estimated to be 3.5 million people that are homeless, and roughly 1.35 million of them are children. It is shown that homeless rates, which are the number of sheltered beds in a city divided by the cities population, have tripled since the 1980’s (National Coalition for Homeless, 2014). Worldwide, it is estimated that 100 million children live and work on the streets. Homeless children are more at risk than anyone else, and are among the fastest growing age groups of homelessness. Single women with children represent the fastest growing group of homeless, accounting for about 40% of the people that are becoming

Homelessness is a social problem that is prevalent around the world. Homelessness has existed for much of "civilized" human history. In the last two centuries, homelessness and changed and expanded. Sociologists who study and research homelessness have argued over its formal definition for decades, though for some, the definition of homelessness seems self explanatory and obvious. The paper will examine homelessness, particularly as a sociological issue, or a social issue seen from a sociological perspective. The paper will additionally reference sociological theory as a means of explanation for homelessness, such its causes, the demographics/populations, and other prominent known characteristics of homeless people. There are individuals and groups who choose to be, from a normative societal perspective, homeless, but for a great deal of the homeless population, it can be a treacherous and tragic lifestyle that is a result of a distinct set of social, societal, and individual factors.

The sun rises, birds are chirping, and everyone is ready for their day at work. Some people take their cars, some, carpool. Others, take buses, trams, and ride sharing. Some however, find their method of transport less desirable, next to a homeless person who hitched a ride on the 24/7 bus. Everyone in the Bay Area has seen the increasing amount of haggard, limping, sleeping people on the streets. Groups of people trying to survive on what they can Over the past few years, the problem has been worsening. If anyone goes to San Francisco, Oakland, or some of the bigger cities, they will see crowds of people sleeping on the sidewalks. Cluttering the streets as they try to walk to their destination.

The Homeless Period On average, women spend about $3,360 on essential feminine hygiene products throughout their entire lives, but what happens when a woman cannot even afford her monthly menstrual expenses? Every month homeless women are put on a crisis situation recurring to extreme methods to cope with their periods. These women want to feel clean; unfortunately, they do not have the means to do so because pads and tampons are expensive. In fact, they are taxed as luxury items in more than thirty states. As of today, there is not a clear policy as to where homeless women can find free feminine hygiene products when they need them. This is more paupers’ problem, it is a health, hygiene, and dignity issue. The government needs to make a legislation that allows homeless women to get free pads and tampons The means by which homeless women cope with their periods are unbelievable. In their own voice periods “brings inconvenience to the level of misery” (Shay). When these women cannot afford to buy feminine hygiene products, they use whatever they can to keep themselves clean. Some of the common substitutes of pads and tampons are “toilet paper, paper towels, plastic bags, towels, cotton balls, makeup pads, socks, and [old clothes]” (How do Homeless Women Cope with Their Periods). On bad days, some women even have to reuse the same rag multiple times by washing it, drying it, and putting it back in. Feminine hygiene products are expensive and sometimes half, if not all, of what

Homelessness in America has existed for some time now, but has grown and changed majorly over the years since the 1980’s. According to Mary Hombs, “the prevailing stereotype of a homeless person was that of a middle-aged white urban male alcoholic” (6). But now there is no stereotype because homelessness could happen to anyone at any moment, so that is why it important to be aware. Millions of people in this country do not have a place to live including whole families, children, veterans, and even the mentally ill. Going day after day without food or shelter. Throughout this paper the main focus will be answering the questions: What is homelessness?; What are the main causes of homelessness?: Who is the homeless?; and How do the people of this country assist the homeless?

The image of homelessness has changed since the Great Depression, when many homeless people were elderly and white. Today a growing number of women and families, including young children, are homeless because of insufficient housing and resources (Bassuk & Rosenberg, 1988). As the number of homeless people has continued to rise over the past decade, homelessness has become a central feature of life in America.

Homelessness is a prime concern for numerous countries across the globe, including the most advanced ones. Though the population of homeless people tends to be higher in developing countries, it is still a concern in developed nations. Homelessness is a state where someone lacks regular shelter. The term includes people who do not have a home and sleep on the streets, as well as those whose basic nighttime residence is a homeless shelter or other improvised form of housing. Such people lack the capacity to acquire or maintain sufficient nighttime shelter. Individuals and family units become homeless for many reasons. Assessing these causes can help to mitigate the issue.

People often think that homelessness only affects men and women but in reality homelessness also affects families “It is estimated that 3.5 million Americans experience homelessness every year. Among this group, 17 percent are single women and 30 percent are families with children” (Finfgeld-Connet, 2010, p.1). It is said that women along with their children are among the fastest growing homeless population and not only does it impact women but it also impacts their children significantly.

Everywhere you turn in the United States people are sitting on the corners of streets asking for assistance or digging in trash cans for meals. The epidemic of homelessness in the United States has reached an all-time high since the 1990’s. Unfortunately, the adage of people chose to be homeless was not accounting for families that live paycheck to paycheck and lose their job and therefore their housing because it is unavoidable. Alternatively, many individuals that are homeless have some type of mental illness or substance abuse problem thus creating a barrier to maintaining housing. Many of these individuals are incapable to preserve stable employment and have limited support to get off the streets. However, there are several programs that the federal government fund to assist with combating the problem of homelessness in America.

The issue of chronic homelessness is not just a political or academic debate but has become evident from men and women living without homes in the streets of America. Homeless men and women

Homelessness is multifactorial and complex, complicated by social, political and structural factors. These factors provides some of the reasons why many people becomes homeless and whether they remained in their circumstance. However the issues that women faces in their life that lead them to become homeless is often severe, many are survival of daily struggles both in the past and present .Homeless women endure trauma victimisation and oppressions, as well as pain and loss from abusive relationship perpetuated by husband and spouse. Most research surrounding homeless women conducted in the U.K and USA, highlighted the extraordinarily high levels of abuse and victimization as key factors leading to women becoming homelessness (Watson,

The Problems and causes of homelessness are closely intertwined, with many of the problems of homelessness also sharing common source with the causes of homelessness. Narrative comments are included. There are three central themes that are highlighted in the cases. Mental health plays a large role in the cause and problem of homelessness as displayed by Stephanie’s experience as “her parents asked her to leave home. Stephanie had suffered from anxieties and bipolar”. Abusive relationships are also experienced frequently amongst the participants illustrated by Lauren and her children as it is noted “her husband was manipulative and abusive to her and the children”. Exposure to drugs is another theme of homelessness demonstrated by Elle’s

alcoholics, dangerous, mentally ill) and there is a profound stigma around being homeless (Couch, 2015), while positive characterizations are quite rare (Couch, 2015). Negative correlations to individual incompetence, mainly emanated and influenced by the media (Gaetz, 2009), have gained prevalence over thematic coverage (related to general trends, statistics) (Iyengar, 1990, pp. 22). As a result, media coverage, governments, and most significantly, society, ever-increasingly afflict homelessness with proximate causes such as individual responsibility, not ultimate causes like individual circumstances nor societal failures (rising cost of housing) (Glover, 2004, pp. 24). According to the “Street Health Report,”over three quarters of the homeless claim their economic circumstances as one of the two most important reasons they were homeless (Khandor & Mason, 2007, pp. 4). Additionally, the report concluded that more than half experienced serious depression in the past year and one in three said they had no one to help them in an emotional crisis. Their predicament is only exacerbated by contemporary perspective of homelessness; Hulchanski (2009, pp. 8) states that society condemns homelessness only “to their personal failures” because it is easier and more inexpensive to address when compared to societal issues such as housing, which is given more “priority” than rental or social housing sectors

Many reasons for worsening situation of homelessness in the country have been reported but none has gathered as much support as poverty. Poverty alone accounts for major increase in homeless households while other possible reasons include loss of job, eroding job opportunities, lack of public assistance and lack of affordable housing facilities. Despite these being powerful reasons, they are all linked to one major reason i.e. poverty.