Homelessness and Relationships

Homelessness and Lack of Positive Relationships

Researchers in this area most often study people in the midst of a homeless episode, rather than those on the verge of homelessness or the much larger group of people who have reestablished themselves in housing. Many, but not all, such studies find that some currently homeless people have impoverished social relationships with friends or relatives who might be able to help them. In some cases, the loss of social relationships clearly predates homelessness. Homeless adults, whether homeless by themselves or with their families, are more likely than are other poor people to have been separated from their families of origin, been placed in foster care, or had a parent die when they were children. The loss of a relationship, such as divorce, sometimes precipitates homelessness, and rates of single parenthood are high among homeless families in the United States, as they are among poor families generally. Perhaps a quarter of single homeless adults have experienced mental disorders such as schizophrenia that often involve social isolation, but such disorders are rare among homeless families.

In other cases, people draw on friends and relatives for housing and other supports before becoming homeless, but eventually wear out their welcomes with members of their social networks. A study in Chicago found that homeless adults had lacked steady jobs for an average of 2 years longer than they had been homeless, and a study in New York City found that over three quarters of homeless families stayed with friends and relatives before turning to public shelters. At the time of their initial shelter request, homeless families reported more recent contacts with relatives and friends than did a comparison group of poor families who remained housed. In these cases, it may not be lack of social ties so much as the inability of social network members to supply material resources that leads to homelessness.

Even where lack of social relationships predates homelessness, the critical missing ingredient may be economic resources rather than emotional support. Rates of homelessness are much lower in Europe, and homelessness among families is rare even where rates of single parenthood are comparable to or higher than in the United States, probably because of more generous income support policies. In a longitudinal study in New York City, housing subsidies created the same levels of housing stability for previously homeless families as for families in the welfare caseload generally. After accounting for housing subsidies, no psychosocial characteristics or characteristics of relationships, past or present, predicted housing stability.

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