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Comparing Men's and Women's Experiences of Multiple Exclusion Homelessness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2011

Graham Bowpitt
Affiliation:
School of Social Sciences, Nottingham Trent University E-mail: graham.bowpitt@ntu.ac.uk
Peter Dwyer
Affiliation:
School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, University of Salford E-mail: p.j.dwyer@salford.ac.uk
Eva Sundin
Affiliation:
School of Social Sciences, Nottingham Trent University E-mail: eva.sundin@ntu.ac.uk
Mark Weinstein
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Business, Law and Social Sciences, Nottingham Trent University E-mail: mark.weinstein@ntu.ac.uk

Abstract

This article explores gender as a variable in multiple exclusion homelessness in England. Much past research has taken insufficient account of the gender of homeless people, especially the predominance of men in the single homeless population and of women heading homeless households with dependent children. Drawing on qualitative data generated in a study of multiple exclusion homelessness in London and Nottingham, the article considers three ways in which gender may act as a homelessness variable: in people's susceptibility to homelessness, in their experiences of homelessness and in their encounters with accommodation services. By comparing the accounts of homeless men and women with complex support needs with evidence from staff working for support agencies, the overall aim of the article is to offer a critical examination of the gendered assumptions of homelessness policy and practice.

Type
Themed Section on Exploring Multiple Exclusion Homelessness
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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