ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses homeless families, although it is often impossible and undesirable to separate the family from the homeless individual. The problem of homeless families is a regular feature of public debate at the present time, primarily because of a steady increase in the number of persons using temporary accommodation hostels. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book offers a detailed assessment of the causes of homelessness. It begins with a look at each family’s housing history for the five years before their last entry into temporary accommodation, particularly focusing on the number of moves each family has made. The book uses the results of the survey as well as other sources of information from the survey area, and sets out to give a broadly based view of the impact of our social services on the threat and fact of homelessness.
