The Development of Homelessness in Ireland
A contemplation of recent government data to explore recent developments within the numbers of homeless adults in Ireland.
In early 2020 the first case of Covid-19 was confirmed in Ireland. The pandemic reaching Ireland posed a challenge to the whole Irish population, but it may have been specifically tough on those who do not have a home. The newly arising pandemic combined with the ongoing housing crisis in Ireland has been responsible for yet another crisis by default— the homelessness crisis.
The circumstances have made it harder than ever to find a job, many people even lost theirs due to the pandemic, or to find affordable housing near any city with enough jobs. Despite this, Irish government data shows that overall, there was a decrease in homeless adults in Ireland throughout the pandemic. This data includes adults who are in either private emergency accommodation, supported temporary accommodation, temporary emergency accommodation and others. The exact number of rough sleepers is not included.
When considering the distribution of homeless adults across Ireland’s regions during the pandemic, it comes as no surprise that a vast majority of homeless adults can be found in and around the capital. Dublin consistently has the highest ratio of homeless adults despite the number of homeless adults in Ireland falling throughout the months of 2020 and 2021. On average, from January 2020 to October 2021 around 70 % of homeless adults in the whole of Ireland were situated in the Dublin region. With only around 30% of homeless adults distributed in the rest of the country, this shows that there is a significant concentration in the capital which is home to 44% of the overall Irish population, according to CSO.
You simply cannot talk about the high numbers of homeless adults in Ireland without mentioning the housing crisis. To give some background information, the historical development of house prices in Ireland has to be mentioned as a possible cause of the current situation. Figure 2 contains two slides that show the development of new and second-hand house prices in Ireland over the years. It shows how the prices in Dublin are significantly higher than in other Irish counties. There was a general spike in both new and second-hand house prices between 2006 and 2007 before dropping significantly due to the Great Recession. But even after that, the house prices remained high, especially in Dublin, which may be responsible for the higher number of homeless adults in areas with higher house prices. This development of prices in previous years shows that the increase in prices happening from 2021 still has an impact on Irish housing today. According to the Irish Examiner property prices have increased nationally by 12.4% in the year to September 2021, which results in an ongoing lack of affordable housing in the whole of Ireland — not only in Dublin.
This shows the overall housing problem in Ireland which is feeding into the homelessness crisis. It is now worth looking more closely at the homeless adults in Ireland during the pandemic. This may help figure out what age group is most affected. Regarding the age of the homeless in Ireland, Figure 3 shows that the largest number of homeless people throughout 2020 and 2021 is has been between 25 to 44 years old. The lowest number of homeless people is aged 65+, which may also be concerned with the higher mortality rate in homeless people who often do not have access to medical facilities etc. The age group from 18 to 24 has the second-lowest number of homeless adults which could have to do with the fact that members of that age group can sometimes still be accommodated in youth facilities despite being of full age. However, from June 2021 onwards the graph shows a disturbing rise in homelessness in 18 to 24 year-olds. The age group from 45 to 64 has a significantly higher number of homeless adults in Ireland than the 18 to 24-year-olds; however, it is nowhere near as high as the number of 25 to 44-year-olds. This shows the shocking reality of homelessness in Ireland: mostly young to middle-aged people are affected.
For an overview of the development of homelessness in Ireland over the last four years, Figure 4 compares the average number of homeless adults in Ireland from 2018 until 2021. What stands out is that despite there being a decrease in overall homelessness during the pandemic in Ireland, the average male homelessness in 2020 and 2021 rises on average whilst the average of homeless women decreases. A reason for this may be the lack of public assistance and the fact that being homeless might be even more dangerous for women than it is for men. However, this leads to the question of whether the decreasing numbers of total homeless adults merely meant that fewer women were entering homelessness throughout the last few years. Does this mean that there is a gender discrepancy within homeless adults, leading to male homeless adults not receiving enough help?
When taking a closer look exclusively at the years 2020 and 2021, it becomes apparent in Figure 5 that the monthly amount of homeless men mainly stayed constant with a slight rise in numbers towards the end of 2021. The overall lower number of women stayed mainly constant after a slight decrease at the start of 2020 and a slight increase towards the end of the year. This indicates that the overall number of homeless women is significantly lower than the number of homeless men. From October 2020 you can see a slight decrease in the number of all homeless adults which may have to do with the eviction ban that was introduced in that month. This ban was supposed to help people during the Covid19 pandemic as many people lost their jobs. This financial impact would have caused many people to lose their accommodation, which is why the ban helped regulate the number of new people entering homelessness. It still seems like not enough help is in place to help those who have already entered homelessness to step out of it. Despite there being a decrease in the total number of homeless adults throughout the pandemic, the total number of homeless adults remains on a high level.
As previously mentioned, a specific issue within these homelessness datasets can be determined: Although the number of homeless people is lower in October 2021 as opposed to the start of 2020, there is an increase in the ratio of homeless men throughout the years. It needs to be considered that the average of homeless adults in Ireland decreased after 2019, however, the percentage of male homeless people increased. As can be determined from Figure 6, in 2018, around 57% of homeless people were male and 43 % were female. Overall, the number of homeless people increased in 2019, there were around 59% male and 41% female homeless adults which shows an increase of male homeless adults by 2% in only one year. In 2020, where the pandemic started, there were 63% male and 37% female homeless adults, which determines a significant increase of 4% in male homelessness in Ireland based on government data. As data has only been published until October 2021, the gender percentage from January determines 66% male and 34% female homeless adults during that period, a 3% in homeless men in Ireland compared to the year before. This shows that especially during 2020 and 2021, in which the Covid19 pandemic took a toll on people’s lives, there was an overall decrease in the number of homeless adults; however, there was also a significant and concerning increase in male homelessness which cannot be disregarded.
Numerous promises have been made by Irish politicians to help tackle the homelessness crisis. The government data gives an interesting insight but the problem is way more extensive; for example, the exact data of rough sleepers is very hard to determine. It is important to mention that the effects that cause homelessness, like expensive housing prices, unemployment, illness and poverty, have been heightened by the pandemic and affect both genders. Fewer women being recorded homeless in government data does not necessarily mean that they are in a particularly good situation. However, there are certain institutions in place to help homeless women in Ireland, such as Women’s Aid or Daisyhouse. Foundations that are in place to help specifically men are hard to find in Ireland. The government data displayed in this story shows that more needs to be done to reduce overall homelessness in Ireland, with a focus on tackling particular problems that may have gender-specific causes.
With all gender discrepancies set aside, housing is meant to be a human right which is why actions need to be taken to not only improve the homelessness crisis for some but to end it once and for all.
