This paper reports on pilot study research for an ESF funded project. It examines the experiences and perceptions of 12 women in relation to the concept of ageism in paid employment. The women were all aged 50 or over at the time. The results show that whilst most of the women had faced (to differing degrees) or observed gender and age based discrimination, the experiences and interpretations revealed were not static, nor isolated from the wider historical, cultural and social contexts in which these women had grown up and grown older. It is therefore argued that policy attempts to combat age discrimination will need to take account of the gender dimension of ageism as well as the different ways in which it impacts on older women. For this to occur, more research and debate are needed on the issues raised in this paper.

This paper examines the complexities of providing housing support services for people who have experienced homelessness. The evidence is from a qualitative study of both those receiving and those providing support services for homeless people to resettle into the wider community from homeless accommodation in the Merseyside area. Different approaches of support are considered and using narratives, a model of successful support is established. The experiences of the majority of the service users strongly suggest that support has been critical in assisting a resettled way of life after being homeless. The paper contends that a critical prerequisite of successful support is the strength of desire of the homeless person to become resettled, coupled with a degree of motivation to engage with support services. The importance of such motivation should not be underestimated. Equally important to the success of resettlement is the relationship that most clients develop with a support worker. This relationship can initially develop while attempting to resolve practical difficulties of finding suitable, permanent accommodation. Through a mutual respect between worker and client and a high degree of empathy from a worker towards a client in tandem with an individualized support package aimed at independent living successful outcomes can occur. The paper concludes that support is successful when it is provided in a flexible manner thus relying on the skill and ability of a support worker to adequately judge the exact requirements of a service user. When this delicate balance between support and service user needs is achieved, the outcome is long‐term sustainable housing solutions.

Much research has established the link between low incomes and poor nutritional standards. A research team from the Centre for Consumer Education & Research at Liverpool John Moores' University recently found that 30% of all families with children in Britain today are spending less on food than what is required to achieve a dietary which adheres, at minimum cost, to the Department of Health's Dietary Recommended Values (DRVs). But very little, if any, research has investigated the nutritional implications of a particularly extreme form of material deprivation--homelessness. This pilot study therefore sets out to study the dietaries of a number of homeless families in Liverpool--homeless as defined by living in Bed & Breakfast accommodation. Not only do such families have to contend with dependency upon welfare benefits when purchasing their foodstuffs; they also have to labour under inadequate cooking facilities. The study has involved these families keeping a dietary diary of all food and drink consumed. This information has then been analysed for its nutrient composition, using the Microdiet computer programme at Liverpool JMU. The results will show that, in every single case, the dietaries of these homeless families fall substantially short of the government's own nutritional guidelines and are, without doubt, unhealthy in the extreme. This paper is thus an examination of the nature and extent of the problem, using the science of nutrition and dietetics: not a policy prescription (although this is obvious) not a policy analysis. A study of the dietary implications of homelessness for 100 individuals (the largest ever undertaken) on Merseyside will be undertaken between September 1993 and June 1994.

The objectives of this study were to update Rowntree's food estimates to bring them into line with contemporary food habits and changing lifestyles; to determine whether food budgeting/ coping strategies of low income households observed by Rowntree at the turn of the century were still prevalent in low income groups today: and to evaluate whether expenditure by low income households on food was sufficient to meet minimum dietary recommendations. Two hundred questionnaires were completed face to face with the interviewer within the Merseyside boundary and included only those households who were in the Post code area. Many low income households are unable to access a healthier diet due to income limitations. Many used a variety of coping strategies to stretch their incomes and were also found to rely on help from outside the immediate family such as extended family and friends and voluntary agencies. Households with children were found to be spending slightly more on food than the reconstructed Rowntree minimum dietary. There are thus two issues; firstly that there are households spending slightly more than the minimum yet that are unable to achieve a healthy diet. Secondly all the low income households are spending much less per person than the average person in the United Kingdom. It is concluded that whilst sterling work is being achieved within health promotion departments and within community health settings there is still a great deal to be undertaken. The value of Home Economics teaching in schools should be better recognised, and Home Economics should be reinstated in the National Curriculum. Secondly it is recommended that a standard approach be adopted to inform both welfare benefit payments and in-work top up payments, thus allowing households on low incomes to make informed choices within a budget that will accommodate healthier eating strategies.

The inability of the older poor to purchase a healthy dietary cannot be solved merely by health education or budgeting skills. Primarily, they need more money.