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Being Homeless: Evidence from Italy

Author

Listed:
  • M. Braga
  • L. Corno

    (Università degli studi di Milano
    University College London)

Abstract

Homelessness represents the most extreme form of poverty in industrialized countries and a critical consequence of economic crisis. The economic research on homelessness is almost non-existent because of the lack of reliable data. By interviewing homeless people in Milan and with a response rate of 62%, this paper presents and discusses the results of the first representative survey in Europe among the homeless. We find an overwhelming majority of divorced males in the central part of their life. Respondents indicate unemployment and breakdowns in family relationships as the main reasons for their status. Further, almost one third of the sample works, suggesting a possible reintegration of unemployed homeless in the labour market. Unconditional welfare assistance is correlated with labour market inactivity and longer homelessness spells.

Suggested Citation

  • M. Braga & L. Corno, 2011. "Being Homeless: Evidence from Italy," Giornale degli Economisti, GDE (Giornale degli Economisti e Annali di Economia), Bocconi University, vol. 70(3), pages 33-73, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gde:journl:gde_v70_n3_p33-73
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Early Dirk W. & Olsen Edgar O., 2002. "Subsidized Housing, Emergency Shelters, and Homelessness: An Empirical Investigation Using Data from the 1990 Census," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 1-36, August.
    2. Brent Berry, 2007. "A Repeated Observation Approach for Estimating the Street Homeless Population," Evaluation Review, , vol. 31(2), pages 166-199, April.
    3. Gary S. Becker, 1974. "Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach," NBER Chapters, in: Essays in the Economics of Crime and Punishment, pages 1-54, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Dirk W. Early, 1998. "The role of subsidized housing in reducing homelessness: An empirical investigation using micro-data," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(4), pages 687-696.
    5. Honig, Marjorie & Filer, Randall K, 1993. "Causes of Intercity Variation in Homelessness," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(1), pages 248-255, March.
    6. Allgood, Sam & Moore, Myra L. & Warren, Ronald Jr., 1997. "The Duration of Sheltered Homelessness in a Small City," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 60-80, March.
    7. John M. Quigley & Steven Raphael & Eugene Smolensky, 2001. "Homeless In America, Homeless In California," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(1), pages 37-51, February.
    8. Shinichiro Iwata & Koji Karato, 2007. "Homeless Networks and Geographic Concentration: Evidence from Osaka City," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-527, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    9. Elizabeth Martin, 1992. "Assessment of S-Night Street Enumeration in the 1990 Census," Evaluation Review, , vol. 16(4), pages 418-438, August.
    10. Allgood, Sam & Warren, Ronald Jr., 2003. "The duration of homelessness: evidence from a national survey," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 273-290, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Rosanna Scutella & Guy Johnson, 2012. "Locating and Designing 'Journeys Home': A Literature Review (Journeys Home: A Longitudinal Study of Factors Affecting Housing Stability)," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2012n11, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    2. Jarvis, Justin, 2015. "Individual determinants of homelessness: A descriptive approach," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 23-32.
    3. Lucia Corno, 2012. "Peer Effects on Criminal Behavior. Evidence from the homeless," Norface Discussion Paper Series 2012015, Norface Research Programme on Migration, Department of Economics, University College London.
    4. Francesco Balducci, 2021. "Mapping the invisibles: Using non-conventional point-level data to analyse residential patterns of deprived people in a mid-sized city," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(8), pages 1634-1654, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Homelessness; Original Survey; S-night approach;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

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