Differences among Homeless Single Women, Women with Children, and Single Men

Abstract

This article presents descriptive data for homeless single women and women with children, and contrasts it to parallel data for single homeless men. It explores demographic characteristics (race, age, marital status, household composition and education), length of current spells of homelessness and joblessness, income and income sources, history of personal problems (mental illness, chemical dependency, criminal justice involvement), patterns of utilization of soup kitchens and shelters, and diet adequacy. The data base for these comparisons is 1,704 in-person interviews from the first national study of homeless individuals that uses probability sampling, and therefore has the capacity to develop generalizations about a known universe of the homeless that transcends unique conditions in single cities. The study's population is homeless adults who use soup kitchens and shelters in U.S. cities of 100,000 or more. The results indicate that homeless single women, homeless women with children, and homeless men differ significantly on many variables, with implications for both the probable causes of their homelessness and preventive and ameliorative efforts.