NWCI Paper: The Female Face of Homelessness

Published: Friday, April 13, 2018

On the eve of the National Day of Action against Homelessness and the Housing Crisis, NWCI launched a paper documenting the impact of homelessness on women’s health. The paper outlines key recommendations both to address the housing crisis and to support women who are currently homeless. We called on Government to increase social housing stock, develop a homeless healthcare strategy and establish support services for women living in homelessness.

Dr Cliona Loughnane, Women’s Health Coordinator at the National Women’s Council of Ireland said,

“Homelessness, affecting almost 10,000 people in Ireland, has reached epidemic proportions. The housing crisis is clearly a woman’s issue, with our rate of female homelessness now double that of other European countries. The traditional image of homelessness in Ireland has been of single men rough sleeping. However, today’s reality of homelessness is very different, and not enough of a focus is given to the female face of homelessness. Women make up 42% of the adult homeless population nationwide, while one in three of those without a home is a child. The shocking rates of female and child homelessness are a result of the dramatic increase in families who have been forced from their homes due to rising rents, the majority of whom are women-headed lone parent families.”

Read our full press release here.

Read our paper, The Impact of Homelessness on Women's Health here.