ABSTRACT
Young homeless people are perhaps the most explicit and distasteful indictment of growing inequalities in the UK. Young people living and sleeping on the streets and in insecure accommodation are hardly congruent with the notion of a ‘classless society’. In this chapter, we examine youth homelessness to illustrate the quite spurious nature of claims that the UK is moving towards a ‘classless society’. In particular, we highlight the general discrimination against youth by society and social policy and the more specific discrimination against poorer and more disadvantaged young people, such as those who are unemployed and homeless.
