New Delhi:
Homelessness leads to mental and health problems in human beings, says a study by British researchers. The study focuses on the miserable state of society’s most marginalized people.
Analyzing the experiences of 64 people who are homeless in Newham, London, it came out that some were living in temporary houses and others were living in a state of constant insecurity and instability at the same time dealing with a housing system which they find confusing.
22 per cent of the persons interviewed had a disability while 48 per cent had a health condition.
When interviewed about their health, almost nine per cent more than double the national average- told they were experiencing suicidal thoughts and nine percent answered that they thought about self-harming.
Researchers from the universities of Sheffield, Leeds and Birkbeck, London set out to understand their lives by working with 'Focus E15', a campaign group run by people who themselves had been threatened with homelessness and eviction in Newham.
Between September 2015 and April 2016, they interviewed people facing homelessness and had either approached Newham Council for support or were living in hostels in the borough.
Women were disproportionately represented, accounting for 67 per cent of those interviewed and more than half (59 per cent) had dependents, mainly children under 18.
It is because housing system priorities people who work in the labour market which is a disadvantage for women who take time away from work in order to have children, the report said.
The research was led by Dr Tom Gillespie of Sheffield and Dr Kate Hardy of Leeds University Business School.
