Social diagnosis and characterization of homeless people in Spain: Analysis from a gender perspective

Abstract

Homelessness represents the most extreme social exclusion and vul-nerability conditions. It is urgent to perform a social diagnosis that explores thesociodemographic and descriptive characteristics of homeless people who makea living in Spain in order to identify their specific needs, particularities of thesituation of women and strategies to improve their quality of life. Through a sampleof 215 homeless people (Córdoba city, Spain) a structured interview using a guidedquestionnaire was conducted. A descriptive statistics analysis was performed. Theresults show that although there are similar characteristics in terms of mean ageand level of education, there are also striking differences between men and women.More women report to be mothers, have a partner in an attempt, among other things, to seek protection in such extreme conditions, and a lower presence ofwomen on public roads is the result of their avoiding sleeping in the open or inplaces where they may be exposed to violent situations. The knowledge of thedifferent trajectories and characteristics of homeless people and, more specifically,the group of women, may be considered when designing public policies and allo-cating social resources.