Skeletons at the feast: a review of street homelessness
SOURCE: HSRC Review
OUTPUT TYPE: Journal Article
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2010
TITLE AUTHOR(S): C.Cross, J.R.Seager
KEYWORDS: HOMELESS CHILDREN, HOMELESSNESS
DEPARTMENT: Public Health, Societies and Belonging (HSC)
Web link: http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/review/August-2010/skeletons-at-the-feast
Intranet: HSRC Library: shelf number 6469
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/4146
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/4146
OUTPUT TYPE: Journal Article
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2010
TITLE AUTHOR(S): C.Cross, J.R.Seager
KEYWORDS: HOMELESS CHILDREN, HOMELESSNESS
DEPARTMENT: Public Health, Societies and Belonging (HSC)
Web link: http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/review/August-2010/skeletons-at-the-feast
Intranet: HSRC Library: shelf number 6469
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/4146
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/4146
If you would like to obtain a copy of this Research Output, please contact Hanlie Baudin at researchoutputs@hsrc.ac.za.
Abstract
Homelessness on the streets has been of concern to governments and civil society for hundreds of years, and the number of homeless people tends to rise when economic conditions take an adverse turn. Emphasising questions of access to housing, livelihoods and services, CATHERINE CROSS, JOHN SEAGER et al. question whether in South African street homelessness can be eliminated in the foreseeable future. Homelessness on the streets in South Africa is a slow-moving tragedy that arouses anxiety in government and civil society, but one that is overshadowed by the size of the population in shack housing. As unemployment has risen, larger numbers of the poor are living on the margins and are dependent on temporary work or social grants; from there, many have descended into true homelessness. The study suggests that there may be from 100 000 to 200 000 truly homeless street people in South Africa's urban and rural districts, including adults and children. South Africa is not well prepared for increasing homelessness. Compared to the situation of people in shack settlements, little is known about the street homeless and there are no formal statistics. In their extreme poverty, isolation and loss of societal resources, the truly homeless exactly fit the description `the destitute', and are worse off than people living in shacks.-
Related Research Outputs:
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- Health and well-being of the homeless in South African cities and towns
- Towards identifying the causes of South Africa's street homelessness: some policy recommendations
- Educating street and homeless children in South Africa: the challenge of policy implementation
- Poverty on our doorstep: understanding the situation of the individuals who spend the night in front of 134 Pretorius Street and the possible implications of erecting a fence to keep them out
- Homelessness and health in Cape Town: formative research
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- Homelessness and the HSRC: how we got started researching homelessness: an orientation for the HSRC homelessness stakeholder workshop
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- Homelessness and the HSRC: how we got started researching homelessness: an orientation for the HSRC homelessness stakeholder workshop
- Homelessness and health in Cape Town: formative research
- Developing a policy on street homelessness for the City of Tshwane
- Civil society responses to homelessness
- Government responses to street homelessness in South Africa
- Homeless individuals, families and communities: the societal origins of homelessness
- South African street children: a survey and recommendations for services
- Editorial
- Renewal after shack fires must be created by a multiple partnerships