Differences between homeless women and men before and after the transition from shelter to community living: A longitudinal analysis

Abstract

Social quality is the extent to which people are able to participate in social relationships under conditions which enhance their well‐being, capacities and potential and enables them to shape their own circumstances and contribute to societal development. We assessed whether women in homeless shelters differed from men on social quality factors that constitute the quality of their daily life and whether factor scores changed at a different rate for women and men after shelter exit. Data were collected as part of a randomised controlled trial. In 18 shelters across the Netherlands, 183 participants were recruited between December 2010 and December 2012 and followed for 9 months. Adults were eligible if they were about to move from shelter to (supported) independent housing and their shelter stay had been shorter than 14 months. At baseline, women were significantly younger than men. They were more likely to have children, to have minor children staying with them, to be lower educated, to be unemployed and to have been victimised than men. Women had used more services and reported lower self‐esteem, less satisfaction with health and empowerment and higher psychological distress. They were less likely than men to have used alcohol excessively or cannabis. We found no significant differences between women and men in changes over time on the social quality factors. As women were disadvantaged at baseline compared to men regarding many factors, we concluded that women in homeless shelters are a particularly vulnerable group. Moreover, an opportunity remains for shelter services to improve women's social quality during and after their shelter stay.

Intimate partner sexual violence and violent victimisation among women living homeless in Madrid (Spain)

“…Madrid contributes to making visible the greater vulnerability presented from a gender perspective (Fernández-Rasines & Gámez-Ramos, 2013;Herrero, 2003;Matulic-Domandzic et al, 2019;Vet et al, 2019) to draw up specific strategies according to their circumstances (Tinland et al, 2018).…”

“…There are complex factors that contribute to the phenomenon of homelessness, both individually and socially (Busch-Geertsema et al, 2010;Esen, 2017;Fazel et al, 2014;Vázquez et al, 2018) and these are the responses to a range of life experiences and processes (Matulic-Domandzic et al, 2019). Of those living homeless, women are, in certain aspects, especially vulnerable (Rodríguez-Moreno, Roca, et al, 2020;, with a particularly high risk of suffering violent victimisation (Vet et al, 2019).…”

Comparing three stages of addiction recovery: long-term recovery and its relation to housing problems, crime, occupation situation, and substance use

“…The relationship between time in recovery and having housing problems was not found for women. We know, however, that housing problems are more prevalent among men (Armoedebestrijding, 2017;de Vet et al, 2019;Homeless Link, 2015;Straaten et al, 2016), so there is a greater scope for improvement for men. Furthermore, in the social housing sector at least, women with children are given housing priority (Malos & Hague, 1997).…”

Well-Being without a Roof: Examining Well-Being among Unhoused Individuals Using Mixed Methods and Propensity Score Matching

“…The existing research on the association between sex and well-being in unhoused individuals suggests that women may be a particularly vulnerable subgroup [ 31 ]. Unhoused women are less satisfied with their health and empowerment, have lower self-esteem, and experience more psychological distress than unhoused men [ 32 ]. Additionally, although findings are mixed as to the degree of vulnerability, the risks of homelessness associated with health and well-being may be greater for people of color than for white people, especially for women [ 33 ].…”