Lack of suitable housing hampers efforts to escape homelessness, study finds

Securing work is vital on the journey but the lack of housing remains an issue for almost half of those who took part in the Cork Simon study, which will be launched today as part of Simon Week 2020. Picture David Creedon

People working hard to escape homelessness are being hampered by the lack of suitable housing, a long-term study has found.

Securing work is vital on the journey but the lack of housing remains an issue for almost half of those who took part in the Cork Simon study, which will be launched today as part of Simon Week 2020.

It is the second part of their long-term A Working Life research series which explored the experiences of 18 people as they moved into employment, with support from Cork Simon’s employment and training team.

All were, at the time, homeless or at risk of homelessness when they started work, with more than half staying in emergency accommodation.

The researchers maintained contact with 14, tracking their progress in work and in life, for up to two years.

Report author, Sophie Johnston, research and communications coordinator at Cork Simon, said they found 75% of participants were still at work up to two years later, with most of their life goals achieved in that time but securing housing was still an unresolved issue for half of them.

She said it's clear that work can be a catalyst for great change in people’s lives.

But housing scarcity and insecurity caused considerable stress and upheaval, affecting the ability of a third of participants to work during the research period.

They referred to lack of availability, exorbitant rents, perceived prejudice in short-listing tenants and the challenge of taking time off work to search for housing as among the hurdles.

“The participants in this research are literally working their hardest to leave homelessness behind yet many are still struggling to secure stable housing,” Ms Johnston said.

“This is holding them back in their considerable efforts to rebuild their lives."