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Antwort in : /alt/activism/d Absender : rich@pencil.math.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel) Betreff : CHILDREN: Industrialized World Forgets Its Young Homeless Datum : Mo 13.07.98, 20:14 (erhalten: 14.07.98) Groesse : 7502 Bytes ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ## Ursprung : /misc/activism/progressive
/** ips.english: 467.0 **/
** Topic: CHILDREN-EUROPE: Developed World Forgets Its Young Homeless **
** Written 3:42 PM Jul 11, 1998 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.english **
Copyright 1998 InterPress Service, all rights reserved.
Worldwide distribution via the APC networks.
*** 08-Jul-98 ***
Title: CHILDREN-EUROPE: Developed World Forgets Its Young Homeless
By Alex Whiting
LONDON, Jul 8 (IPS) - The impact of homelessness on children is a stark reality in some of the world's wealthiest countries, according to a report launched Wednesday by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Despite huge increases in wealth in industrialised countries over the last 15 years -- in 12 of the wealthiest countries the per capita gross national product has more than doubled -- the number of people sleeping on the streets has increased.
And the worst affected are children and young people. UNICEF estimates that 250,000 young people aged between 16 and 24 lost their homes in 1995. Many found new places to live, but an increasing number have ended up on the streets or in hostels.
These young people are having to start their adult lives on the edge of a poverty gap widened by insensitive officialdom and widespread youth unemployment.
Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF, told IPS: ''We are highlighting this issue because we want to raise public awareness of homelessness and remind the world that challenges about children do not stop at the boundary of the developing world.''
In the United States 5.5 million children were living in poverty in 1996. Many poor families cannot support their young adults, and ''it is reasonable to surmise that a goodly number of them were relegated to the streets,'' says UNICEF.
Many women end up on the streets and have to take their children with them. One of the reasons for the large numbers of homeless children, according to Shelter, a London-based charity working with the homeless, is that nearly a quarter of all families in Britain are headed by single parents, mostly women.
But almost half of working women here do not earn enough on their salaries alone to afford the current average rent on a one-bedroom home, and are more likely to end up homeless.
According to the UNICEF report, ''homelessness is the predictable result of private and public sector policies that exclude the poor from participating in the economic revolution, while safety nets are slashed in the name of 'global competitiveness'.''
The situation is perpetuated by a deep reluctance to tackle the roots of the problem. ''You need to remove all obstacles to accessing housing,'' it adds. ''One of the overall problems now is the way social support systems have been dismantled. Safety nets are not catching people in the same way.''
''The scale of the problem is difficult to assess,'' admits Amanda Allard, Policy Officer at the British campaign group NCH Action for Children. Official figures here are based on those who seek help, but since most 16-24 year olds know they are not a priority, few apply.
''Young people are almost entirely excluded from national housing needs assessments because the government does not recognise their need for housing,'' she says.
Municipal housing denied them, young people also suffer more from unemployment and tend to be paid more poorly, rented accommodation can also be hard to find. Public investment in social housing and municipal homes have been heavily cut in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, adds Catherine Way, who edited the UNICEF report.
In most cases the young, without dependents, are expected to make their own way in life. There is little support for those who cannot manage on their own.
''Young people are only regarded as a priority if they are considered 'vulnerable','' said Allard. ''Most local authorities do not regard young people, even those aged only 16 or 17, as vulnerable just because they are living on the streets. Even proven risk of violence, abuse or exploitation does not guarantee the granting of priority need status.''
British Prime Minister Tony Blair used the launch to detail his government's own response to the issue. A new programme announced Tuesday, aims to reduce the numbers of people sleeping on the streets by two thirds in three years. According to government figures 2,000 or more people sleep rough every night.
''There was no clearer evidence that something was going wrong with our society than the increasing numbers of people sleeping on the streets of our city,'' Blair said. ''They became symbols of our divided society, of the failure of policies aimed at the privileged few.''
But Caroline Abrahams, Head of Public Policy at NCH Action for Children warned that the problem ran more deeply. ''There is a serious social problem of homeless young people (16 to 24 year olds) in this country,'' she said, ''and those sleeping on the streets are just the tip of the iceberg.''
According to UNICEF, homeless young people are twice as likely to suffer from chronic diseases such as respiratory or ear infections, gastrointestinal disorders and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.
And children on the streets suffer from the cumulative effects of poverty, hunger, family breakdown, social isolation, violence and abuse. They are also immensely vulnerable to being drawn into prostitution, drug abuse and criminal activity.
What is needed most, says UNICEF, is a determination to create conditions that promote housing opportunities for all.
This means removing obstacles to housing, including the gap between the minimum wage and the cost of decent accommodation, as well as establishing partnerships with homeless people, support groups, communities and local governments. Failure to take these steps, they say, ''dooms countries to continuing crises of homelessness.''
Bellamy said Blair's announcement was a ''wake-up call'' for developed countries. ''If the there is recognition of this issue by a leader of a major developed country then that is a signal to all other developed countries that homelessness needs to be addressed and that governments have a responsibility to do so.'' (END/IPS/AW/RJ/98)
Origin: Amsterdam/CHILDREN-EUROPE/
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