|
Sociology 498: Homelessness
|
Comparing the currently homeless to those who have left
homelessness
To compare the currently homeless with the formerly homeless, we use Martha
Burt's 1996 national survey of homeless service users.
While her currently homeless sample comes about as close to a representative
sample of the U.S. homeless as is practical,
her formerly homeless sample all continue to use some services often
intended for the homeless (e.g., soup kitchens, health care).
Formerly homeless persons who continue to use homeless services are
undoubtedly poorer than a truly representative sample of the formerly
homeless would be.
But to get a large enough representative sample of the formerly homeless
would be a major undertaking.
Burt's sample gives us a conservative test of the difference between the
current and formerly homeless since the differences would be even larger if
we had a better sample.
The formerly homeless have about 30% higher incomes than the currently homeless.
So exits from homelessness appear to be associated with less poverty.
This association is a clue that more income can cause exits from
homelessness, but the evidence is hardly decisive:
- The causal direction might be reversed: Perhaps once people get their
own housing, it is easier to get a decent income.
- Both leaving homelessness and higher incomes might be a consequence of
some third causal factor (e.g., mental health). The apparent association
between income and leaving homeless may be an accident of this other
causal process.
- As noted above, a more representative sample of the formerly homeless
might tell a different story (although in this case it seems likely that the
income differences would be even larger with a better sample).
While these alternative interpretations are plausible, we do not have the
data to test them adequately. If we followed homeless persons over time and
observed the changes in their income during and after homelessness,
we would have better data to test whether increased incomes cause exits from
homelessness.
Conclusion:
Despite the reservations above,
we have to make do with the data we do have.
These data are consistent with an interpretation that higher incomes
do provide a path out of homelessness.
| Last updated February 13, 2006 |
|