Why does youth homelessness occur

To compound the barriers these families face, it is very difficult—if not impossible—for them to become stably housed without access to subsidized housing, according to Dr. Yet the amount of subsidized housing available has actually gone down at the same time that the need has skyrocketed.

Bassuk said. So what can and should be done to deal with this expanding national crisis? Bassuk said that does not work. It is unrealistic, she believes, to expect stressed-out homeless families to navigate the fragmented human service system to try to get help for their traumatized children at the same time they are trying to find stable housing and employment. This article was originally published as a Voices from the Field Blog to highlight the theme of Housing.

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Skip to main content. The Census highlighted the difficulty in confirming numbers of youth, aged , who are experiencing homelessness. From their information in the Census the ABS reported:. Even to apply for a Youth Allowance can be a confusing process and many give up. Youth that leave out of home care OOHC at age 18 are often not prepared to be independent adults. Young people most often try to use their networks to get alternative accommodation.

However, most young people are only able to stay at friends' and families' places for short periods until they are either asked to move on, or they have taken the initiative to leave, recognising pressures on the household due to their presence.

A result of the instability of such housing options means that young people often have to stay in a variety of other settings before finding sustainable accommodation. Other locations that young people stay in the months or weeks after leaving the family home include on the street, in parks, abandoned houses, a car, shed, train stations, or in foster care. Securing employment can be a problem if a young person does not have sufficient skills, knowledge and experience — sometimes they are forced to leave school early due to no longer having a safe and secure home.

Young people often feel discriminated against when job seeking due to their age. If a young person already had a job, it can become difficult to keep that job without stable accommodation. Young people without a job rely on below the poverty line Centrelink payments for the majority of their income. Getting access to Centrelink entitlements without parental cooperation or a fixed address can also be difficult. Junior wage levels create barriers for young people to be able to live independently.

Young people experiencing homelessness often have not been shown how to cook or plan a meal, how to pay an electricity bill or how to make and stick to a budget on a low income. In the private housing market, finding enough money for bond and rent can be challenging without a stable income, leaving young people and young families with very little for meals, transport and other bills.

The high cost of temporary accommodation such as hotels, motels and caravan parks while trying to move into more stable housing can make a young person's life very difficult. Young people can also feel discriminated against because of their age based on perceptions that young people are irresponsible tenants.