Homelessness & Begging: A Big Issue | Health
Homelessness and begging are certainly not new phenomena. Homelessness and begging are an issue if not a big issue that has been witnessed in the past, in the present and will almost certainly be seen in the future. Homelessness and begging are visible signs that the people enduring them are socially and economically deprived or have simply suffered misfortune. The economic, social and health consequences of homelessness and the closely related phenomenon of begging as shall be discussed poses important social, economic, health and political issues. Whether homelessness and begging are the big issue or one amongst many competing big issues will be discussed in greater detail below. There will also be a brief examination of the history of homelessness and begging in Britain to compare the treatment of the homeless at various periods with the present.
For the homeless, homeless charities and those that wish to eradicatehomelessness and the need for begging, homelessness is without a doubtthe Big Issue. However, for governments homelessness and begging arebehind other issues in order of importance. They would consider issuessuch as economic policies, the National Health Service (NHS), nationalsecurity or law and order as having greater priority. For the generalpublic, homelessness and begging is usually seen as a big issue or notdepending on an individual basis. The various reactions amongst thegeneral public towards homelessness and begging will be outlined andexamined below. The role of the Big Issue magazine and other similarorganisations in raising awareness of homelessness alongside itscontribution to improving the lives of the homeless people that sell itwill play a pivotal role in the discussions contained within thisdissertation. This dissertation will also discuss various reactions ofthe general public towards homelessness and begging such as support,hostility or plain indifference. On a political level the attitudestowards homelessness and begging can vary between the political partiesand from government to government. Governments may not see homelessnessas being among the biggest issues, yet there are reasons that will bementioned that demonstrate it has some importance. Governments do notusually ignore the homelessness issue even if the priority they give itmay differ. Departments such as the Department for Work and Pensionsand the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are tasked with carryingout government policy when it has been decided upon.
Governments do have the option of changing social, welfare andhealth policies to deal with homelessness and begging in any way theyconsider apt. The Big Issue magazine was not a first in itself althoughit was designed to allow homeless people nation-wide to help them earntheir own money and aim towards finding themselves permanent homes. TheBig Issue followed other organisations in trying to help the homeless.Where it differed was that allowed its vendors to become self-employedwith the aim of making them end their homelessness through their ownefforts. Big Issue sellers are a frequent sight in most British townsand cities, they have heightened the awareness of homelessness andbegging making people take notice of their perceptions towards thehomeless and recognise that it is an issue that cannot be ignored andwill not go away. The Big Issue itself aims to reduce levels ofhomelessness and ensure that none of its sellers are involved inbegging. In fact on the top of each copy sold it says ‘working notbegging' and states that out of every £1.20 copy sold 70 pence goes tothe seller (The Big Issue in the North June 27-July 3 2005, p.1).Homelessness as will be discussed can lead to serious physical andmental health problems as well such as depression, alcoholism, drugaddiction or hypothermia and the effects of not receiving full medicaltreatment as and when needed.
As already mentioned in the introduction homelessness and beggingare an age -old issue that lead to other social, economic and healthproblems or consequences. Homelessness and begging have a long historyin Britain as in most parts of the world that pre-dated the launch ofShelter and Crisis in the 1960s and the Big Issue magazine andorganisation during the 1990s (Jones and Lowe, 2002, p. 186).Approaches to the issue have varied through time between measures thathave provided shelter or housing at the cost of limiting andrestricting begging whilst often stigmatising the homeless to moregenerous no strings attached aid. Under the feudal system society wasrigidly defined with the rich and poor, common people and landownersseparated. Poverty was widespread even during good times; a bad harvestor economic recession would be disastrous rising homelessness andbegging to greater levels. Often those homeless considered worthy wouldreceive some help whilst those considered unworthy would be punished asbeggars or made to work for their food and shelter (Abercrombie, Hill& Turner, 2000, p.134). Bad harvests were fairly frequent leadingto starvation as well as poverty. Poor relief would depend on thegenerosity or otherwise of individuals and parishes. Governments wouldsometimes intervene to prevent complete disaster depending on howeffective they were (Griffiths from Morgan, 1993, p.204).
The overwhelming perception of homelessness and begging was that itspread lawlessness and that some begged as they could earn more fromthat than working, whilst avoiding the payment of taxes and alms. Inmany ways that is a perception of homelessness and begging that is thesame now as it was in the past. The perception of the need to clampdown on begging yet failing to tackle the causes of homelessnesshistorically gained momentum after the Black Death struck Britain withas much devastation as it struck Europe and Asia. The death of up to athird of the population had major social and economic consequences(Crystal, 2003, p.107). In England these consequences included harshertreatment of beggars and increased opportunities for the peasantry toimprove their wealth (or actually get some). The 14th century wouldbring the first legislative attempts of government to address theproblems of homelessness and begging particularly after the PeasantsRevolt came so close to success. Peasants were restricted to their homevillages and could only receive relief within their own parishes unlessthey could get help from a monastery or almshouse. Vagrants were oftenharshly treated; being imprisoned put in the stocks or branded(Griffiths from Morgan, 1993, p.207).
The Reformation witnessed the dissolution of the monasteries and endeda source of help for the homeless and poor. The system of poor reliefcould not cope with the poverty that resulted from the famines and direharvests of the late 1550s and the late 1590s. As a consequence of thelatter there was an overhaul of the poor relief system in the Poor LawAct of 1601. The Poor Law Act was the basis of the state's limitedwelfare provisions until the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834. The PoorLaw Act tried to keep families together and prevent homelessness andbegging by assisting people in their own homes. The Poor Law AmendmentAct was designed to save ratepayers from the ever increasing costs bymaking families work for their upkeep in workhouses. The later act madehomelessness and begging worse as the poor wished to avoid theworkhouses (Gardiner & Wenborn, 1995, p.608). Those considered tobe homeless through vagrancy and the deliberate avoidance of work weregenerally treated with greater harshness than other poor people were.The governments of Henry VIII seemed particularly keen on counteringbegging. For instance, the Beggars Act of 1536 was designed to make theable -bodied beggars and vagrants to work for their food and shelter.The government even tried to enslave beggars as the economic problemsof the 16th century mounted. Vagrants that refused to work werepunished and deprived of help. The workhouses were primarily introducedto save ratepayers money and to humiliate and degrade the homeless asmuch as possible. As well as providing families with long termaccommodation workhouses provided vagrants one nights stay for each daythey worked. Despite the bleakness of the workhouses and the harshnessof the anti-vagrancy law the level of homelessness and beggingincreased rather than decreased as a result of industrial development,migration to the expanding cities and the increasing population. Theexpansion of the cities made the health consequences of homelessnessfar more dangerous specifically in terms of diseases such as choleraand rickets (Gardiner and Wenborn, 1995, p.774).
The workhouses were more akin to jails or debtors prisons than aplace where individuals and families could rebuild their lives topermanently overcome poverty, homelessness and the necessity forbegging. The workhouse was often little better for the health of thesepeople than being homeless without the freedom to find work or beg forthemselves. For the workhouse's strongest supporters the rate payers,the self made and the capitalist factory owners these were theinstitutions that people deserved to be in as punishment for theirlaziness or for their homelessness and begging. They argued that in acapitalist free market economy there were winners and losers. Thelosers having to work hard just to survive or face the grimalternatives of the workhouse or homelessness and begging. It is aperception that still persists today as much as it did in 1834.Capitalism favours the skilled, the hard working and those willing toinvest capital whilst disfavouring the lazy, the weak or the inept evenif that condemns them to poverty or homelessness and begging. Peopleshould work to secure their own futures rather than accepting handoutsor begging. Only capitalism can punish the hard working just as much asthe lazy and recessions can put many out of work (Schama, 2002, p.p.180). The Poor Law's operated in such a way as to make the peoplethat resorted to using their provisions feel as though they werebegging for the basics that allowed them to survive yet left themsocially isolated and stigmatised. Whilst from the 1940s welfareprovisions were given out as a right to all those that had a need therewas still a stigma attached to homelessness and begging. On the otherhand the welfare state was supposed to eliminate the need for beggingand make homelessness a thing of the past (Malin, Wilmot &Manthorpe, 2003, p.51). A feature or perception linked with the PoorLaw was that poor people and the homeless were either dishonest orinept when it came to spending any benefits or grants they were given.Whilst the poor may spend the money wisely they could also waste it andnot improve the quality of their lives at all. Mistrust of homelesspeople is not something therefore experienced for the first time by BigIssue vendors (Malin, Wilmot, & Manthorpe, 2003, p.54).
Whether homeless people were willing to find work they did not seemto make much difference to improving their lives. Most employers wouldnot employ without having an address whilst they were unable to affordto live anywhere until they could find a job (or receive socialsecurity benefits). It was and remains a vicious circle that makes itmuch harder for those caught within the bounds of homelessness andperhaps forced people to beg. The difficulties in finding work can anddoes promote the perception that homeless people are lazy and work shyand unprepared to work. However when help and advice has been offeredto the homeless many of them prove that perception is wrong. Crisis andthe Big Issue have found that homeless people are capable of rebuildingtheir lives and even becoming successful (Crisis Annual Review 2004,p.5). Unfortunately the longer individuals spend on the streets themore their prospects of finding gainful employment decrease and thechances of ill health increase. Prior to the introduction ofunemployment benefits and old age pensions prolonged periods ofunemployment or underemployment and low pay condemned many willing andcapable workers to homelessness or the workhouse. During the Victorianera dislike, loathing or fear of the poor either housed or homelessincreased amongst some of the richest in an increasingly prosperouscountry whilst others became interested in the causes of poverty ingeneral and homelessness and all related issues in particular. CharlesBooth for instance studied poverty in London leading for him tocampaign for pensions so that people did not become homeless anddestined for a paupers grave once they could no longer work (Gardiner& Wenborn, 1995, p. 92). The 19th century also witnessed thedevelopment of public health policies in the wake of cholera epidemicsespecially in London showed the devastating effects of poor sanitation,slum housing and homelessness had on life expectancy (Morgan, 1993, pp.499-500). Homelessness and poor housing plus the missionary zeal ofits leader led to the formation of the Salvation Army by William Boothto help the poorest and most vulnerable members of society. As well asproviding the homeless with food and shelter, the Salvation Army triedto encourage homeless people to abstain from alcohol to save money,improve their health and increase their chances of finding permanentemployment and housing (Gardiner & Wenborn, 1995, p. 674).
Until the creation of the NHS in the 1940s health provision for thepoor was generally patchy at best whilst poor housing or being homelessmeant that people had poor health and lower life expectancy.Homelessness makes it harder to gain access to health services whilstliving on the streets takes it toll on peoples health. Prior to theFirst World War the poor and the homeless had to rely on charity fundedhospitals and workhouses for any kind of medical treatment(Abercrombie, Hill & Turner, 2000,p. 160). The squalid conditionsthat many homeless people lived in then and the perception that many ofthe present day homeless are unclean only made their health moreprecarious and members of the public less likely to help them. Thesight of unkempt and unwashed beggars did not help their changes ofreceiving anything other than the most basic of food, shelter andmedical attention. Authors such as Jack London, Ada ElizabethChesterton and George Orwell lived amongst the homeless writing graphicdescriptions whilst trying to understand how the homeless lived. JackLondon's ‘People of the Abyss' had described the endemic poverty andhomelessness in the East End of London whilst Orwell later recountedhis experiences in ‘Down and Out in Paris and London' Orwell recountedwith horror the filthy conditions in which the homeless had to exist.Orwell attempted to remove some of the common misconceptions held abouthomelessness and begging especially amongst the middle classes. Trampsknew the best places to beg although the majority would have preferrednot to continuously move from shelter to shelter and not have seriousdrink problems. Orwell did see homelessness as a big issue with beggingbeing necessary means of survival that would be drastically cut ifhomelessness were reduced (Schama, 2002, pp.467-70).
For many of the middles classes homelessness and begging were notalways a big issue, it was an issue they simply ignored the majority ofthe time. The only times they could not ignore the issue would be whenthe homeless and beggars came to their neighbourhoods. Beggar as GeorgeOrwell noted would soon leave areas where they were given nothing(Schama, 2002, p.469).
Governments had certainly been aware of the health and socialconsequences of poverty. The Liberal governments of 1906-14 hadintroduced old-age pensions, limited unemployment benefits and labourexchanges to allow the unemployed to find jobs. These benefits were notuniversal yet they reduced the risks of becoming homeless for theelderly and the unemployed. Lloyd George stressed the need forunemployment insurance and old age pensions to keep the people that hadpreviously been loyal and hardworking from the streets or the workhouse(Schama, 2002, p.247).
These limited welfare provisions were to be strained during theinter-war years when even in better times there were a millionunemployed and there were social class divisions (Brendon, 2000, p.43).The Great Depression of the 1930s and the Second World War increasedthe desire to establish a welfare state and the NHS to stamp outpoverty, homelessness and inequalities in medical provision. Theintroduction of such services and provisions was intended todrastically reduce if not completely eliminate poverty with theconsequence of hopefully doing the same to homelessness and begging.Certainly the mood of the general public post 1945 supported theadoption of those policies. Establishing a widely held consensusamongst the political parties to maintain full employment, the welfarestate and the NHS with the aim of having the population healthierbetter housed and more prosperous than ever before (Morgan, 1993,p.634). As a result of bombing during the Second World War many peoplehad been made homeless which reduced the social stigma of homelessnessat that time. To re-house all those made homeless by the war councilhouses were constructed on a much greater scale than during theinter-war period. Council houses were often cheaper to rent than thosefrom private landlords and a relatively long period of full employmentcombined with rising living standards meant than many people assumedhomelessness and begging were no longer a big issue as it no longerexisted (Watson, 1997, p.103). Begging was and remains illegal althoughnot everybody that is homeless resorts to begging. The responses tobegging can vary from ignoring it, refusing to give anything or givingthe beggar money or aid in kind. Organisations that help the homelessfrom the Salvation Army through to Crisis, Shelter and the Big Issuehave tried to get the homeless not to beg in order for them to havebetter self-esteem and improve the perception of them held by thegeneral public.
People that are actually homeless do not always carry out begging. Thatmeans that the public cannot be entirely sure that they are helpinghomeless people by giving anything to beggars. Allowing homeless peopleto help themselves is the best approach. To help them the most peopleare best donating to the homeless organisation rather than individualsif they have any doubts about people been genuine. In the case of BigIssue vendors if they have badges they are almost certainly genuine(About Us, Vendors, from bigissue_com and Crisis Annual Review 2004,p.5)
The economic causes of homelessness seemed to have virtuallydisappeared. The welfare state meant that the small number ofunemployed could receive enough benefits to afford to stay housed. Thisbelief that homelessness should not exist as a result of the welfarestate is related to the perception that taxes and National Insurancecontributions pay to keep people housed. The government does spendlarge amounts of public money keeping people housed and off thestreets. Earlier systems of rent rebates and housing allowances werechanged in favour of housing benefits. Housing Benefit keeps around 4million families in their homes and is administered by localauthorities on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). In2002-03 the total spent on homelessness and begging was £11.5 billionand still rising, an indication that all governments do not want anincrease in homelessness even if they found it impossible to completelyeradicate the phenomenon (DWP, 2003, p.32). Given the increased numberof owner -occupiers with debt problems in the form of mortgages andsecured loans means homeowners can be at risk of homelessnessespecially during recessions. Both the New Labour government andhomeless organisations can provide debt advice to prevent this (ODPM,2005, p.26).
From 1945 until the end of the 1970s British governments were committedto the concept of social policy that protected people from birth todeath. The implementation of the Beveridge Report seemed to point theway towards utopia without poverty, homelessness and begging with ahealthier and wealthier nation (Jones & Lowe, 2002, pp.4-5). Thewelfare state and the NHS did have some success in making the nationhealthier and seemed to lower poverty yet never completely. Thegovernment of Margaret Thatcher after 1979 sought to roll back thewelfare state and sought to reduce inflation rather than aim towardsfull employment that the previous government of James Callaghan hadalready effectively dropped (Abercrombie, Hill &Turner, 2000, pp.382-83). The Second World War had not destroyed the entire sub standardhousing in Britain. In some of the worst slums such as Stepney inLondon, tenants still lived in unhealthy squalor faced with payingextortionate rents or being homeless. The poor and newly arrivedimmigrants seemed to be especially vulnerable to such greedy uncaringlandlords (Jones & Lowe, 2002, pp.182-83). These slums werereplaced by high rise tower blocks during the 1950's and 1960s thatpromised better places to live yet have since proved just as prone topromoting crime, ill health and unfit living conditions. Homelessnessand begging continued despite the welfare state, some of the homelessafter it was set up had not paid enough National Insurancecontributions to qualify for benefits. Although some benefits arenon-contributions based it is harder for the homeless to receive enoughbenefits to be able to afford renting a place to live. Non-contributorybenefits tended to be means tested which could deter the homeless fromapplying especially as the amounts were too small compared to theamount that could be made from begging (Bannock, Baxter and Davis,2003, p.271). Although means tested benefits can deter the mostvulnerable people from applying for them, they are set to remain as thebest method of targeting benefits and controlling the costs of thewelfare state (Askonas and Frowen, 1997, p. 180).
The continuance of homelessness through the relatively affluent 1960smeant the problem would continue to increase through the harshereconomic climate of the 1970's. The 1970's were a decade of industrialunrest (most notably in 1973-74 and 1978-79) restraints on governmentexpenditure and changing political attitudes. The Conservativegovernment of Edward Heath had briefly experimented with rolling backparts of the welfare state, a precursor of the more radical Thatcheradministrations. Heath had reversed these policies when unemploymentstarted to increase and in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis (Morgan,1993, p.650). Edward Heath was no Margaret Thatcher and did not wish tobe held responsible for high unemployment or increased homelessness anddid not alter the welfare state in any significant way. Heath's firstchancellor Ian MacLeod had seen homelessness as a big issue and hadhelped to launch Crisis whilst his wife was its President. Crisisclaimed in a report of 1972 that as many as 13,000 people slept on thestreets on any given night (Crisis history. The Labour governments ofHarold Wilson and James Callaghan were unable to reverse Britain'seconomic decline although they had shown their intention of trying toreduce homelessness. Economic difficulties forced the chancellor DenisHealey to limit public sector pay rises and cut government spendingthat led to widespread strike actions and the ‘Winter of ‘Discontent'and ultimately Margaret Thatcher's general election victory in 1979.Ironically enough considering the high unemployment and increasedhomelessness their victory would bring the Conservative's mosteffective campaign posters was ‘Labour isn't working' (Morgan, 1993, p.650).
Margaret Thatcher was determined to break the period of post-warpolitical consensus based around the pillars of an extensive welfarestate, the NHS and the pursuit of full employment. Given that aim it isno surprise that Margaret Thatcher regarded homelessness as being waydown in order of importance on her political agenda and certainly not abig issue. The pursuit of rigorous monetarist economic policy becameknown as Thatcherism. The government's refusal to aid failingindustries and companies to concentrate on fighting inflation ratherthan unemployment meant that levels of unemployment and povertyreturned to levels not seen since the 1930's (Comfort, 1993, p. 305).Homelessness predictably grew with the severity of the recession andthe three or four million unemployed. Crisis were also critical of thegovernment's decision to close alcohol treatment centres down that hadhelped some homeless people overcome their alcoholism. The Thatchergovernment readily admitted that it believed that Britain could notafford such an extensive welfare state and savings must be made whenpossible. It also made no real efforts to reduce unemployment andhomelessness aside from changing how the totals were calculated. Theplans to roll back the frontiers of the welfare state were not entirelysuccessful due to the extra benefit payments given to the high numbersof unemployed (Askonas and Frowen, 1997, p.58). Other policies pursuedby the Conservative governments between 1979 and 1997 showed that theydid not see tackling homelessness as a priority or a big issue. TheThatcher government greatly expanded the right of council house tenantsto buy their homes from the council, which proved very popular yetmeant that local authorities had fewer homes and flats for peoplelooking or needing somewhere to live. Local authorities were not ableto spend any of the proceeds from the sale of council houses on theconstruction of new council houses and therefore built very limitednumbers of them during the 1980s. Selling council houses fitted in withthe Thatcherite ideology of promoting individualism at the expense ofsociety as a whole and the vulnerable in particular. In many respectsThatcherism was an attempt to return to the Victorian era when thegovernment did as little as possible in the economy and only thestrongest in society would prosper at the expense of the weakest.Thatcherism helped to increase selfish individualism whilst economichardships increased the social divisions that made homelessness worse(Watson, 1997, p.117).
However, poverty or other economic factors are not the sole causesof homelessness. Research into homelessness suggests that social andhealth factors are just as important. The causes of homelessness andbegging were generally considered to include various factors such asunemployment or underemployment, mental and physical illness, baddebts, gambling and heavy drinking. Changes within British society haveaffected which people are more likely to become homeless and perhapshave to resort to begging. Changes in government policy andlegislation have also affected the level of homelessness sometimesinadvertently for example with the Care in the Community programmes ofthe 1980s. A fairly accurate picture of the causes of individual casesof homelessness can be ascertained through research by homelesscharities plus the data collected by local authorities and governmentdepartments. Research by the group Centrepoint and others shows thatthe majority of people sleeping on the streets are older than 18, aquarter of them are in the 18-25 age group and that nine out of everyten homeless people are men. Centrepoint found that the vast majorityof 18-25 year olds that had become homeless, some 86 % had been forcedor persuaded to leave their homes against their will. Research such asthis reputes the perception held by some that people chose to becomehomeless rather than become homeless through no fault of their own(Jones and Lowe, 2002, p.190). Official figures for the causes ofhomelessness for those counted as being homeless included 38% beingthrown out of their homes by relatives or friends, 20% losing theirhomes as a result of marriage or other relationship breakdown. Afurther 13% losing their homes after the termination of short holdtenancy agreements. People who have served prison sentences are alsolikely to find it difficult both accommodation and employment once theyare released (ODPM, 2005, p.10).
Drug and alcohol abuse can be health problems for the homeless as theyare for the population as a whole. If homeless people have suchaddictions it can lead them towards begging or more serious crimes andperhaps imprisonment (Malin, Wilmot, & Manthorpe, 2003, p.54).Official figures suggest that a third of all drug addicts are eitherhomeless or become homeless due to their drug addiction. Howeversometimes homeless people have not had the chance to go throughrehabilitation until after they have been imprisoned (ODPM, 2005,p.24). In recent years more health and welfare advice has becomeavailable to homeless people to prevent long-term health problems andprovide better opportunities to find a home. Groups such as Shelter andthe Big Issue provide advice and support besides similar help beingavailable from local authorities and government departments such as theDWP. Such help can and does allow homeless people the chance torebuild their lives, find homes and become fully integrated back intosociety. Schemes such as the Changing Lives awards run by the charityCrisis give homeless people the chance to attend skills and trainingcourses or grants to start their own businesses. These schemes havehad successes in giving people work and homes (The Big Issue in theNorth, June 27-July 3 2005, p.6). Homelessness isn't simply cured byputting somebody in a house or a hostel and just leaving them there. Itis only solved on an individual basis with ‘learning and skills aspermanent way out of homelessness'. That is a view held by David Bellthe present chairman of Crisis (Crisis Annual Review 2004, p.3). Crisishas developed Smart-move a scheme in which Crisis negotiates financialguarantees with landlords to allow the homeless to move into emptyproperties they would not usually be able to afford. Crisis continuesto support people once they have found a home with advice, medicaltreatment and starting their own businesses, training or finding a job(Crisis Annual Review 2004, p.11).
The widespread belief that homelessness and begging had all butceased to exist in post war Britain was publicly disapproved during the1960's. Anyone with the perception that homelessness and begging haddisappeared only have volunteered for the Salvation Army to find it wasstill a big issue just one that had not been in the public spotlight.The launch of the charity Shelter brought the issue of homelessness andbegging back into the public spotlight again. Shelter stressed thathomelessness was not just seeing people sleeping rough it was alsofamilies and individuals that were inadequately or insecurely housed.Shelter aimed to mobilise volunteers to help the homeless and campaignfor more government action to provide better, more affordable housing.Shelter's launch attracted a great deal of media attention, especiallyas it coincided with the TV documentary Cathy Come Home in 1966 (Jones& Lowe, 2002, pp. 186-87). Shelter helps to maintain homelessnessas a big issue within the public domain by carrying out and publishingresearch results and the use of press releases.
Shelter now helps around 100,000 people and their dependants to findor keep their homes every year. Three decades after its foundationShelter views homelessness as being as big an issue as it ever was. Asan organisation it uses its experience not only to advice the homeless,it also offers advice to senior civil servants and government ministers(Grannum, 2005, p.28)
The failure to end homelessness was partly caused by the way, in whichresponsibility for housing issues was split between government and thelocal authorities. It was not always the case that governments regardhomelessness as being unimportant rather that their responses to itwere uncoordinated and therefore less effective. These divisions hadthus made it harder to find permanent accommodation for the homeless. To its credit the minority Labour government of James Callaghanintroduced the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act of 1977 that increasedgovernment support and services to homeless people. One of the resultsof that Act was that it promoted greater co-operation in serviceprovision. This approach later led to the adoption of Housing Benefitthat has kept millions of people from becoming homeless and arguablylined the pockets of many landlords in the process since its launch in1984 (Butcher, 1995, p. 58).
Whilst Shelter and Crisis worked tirelessly to counter homelessness andhelp the homeless a new aspect of the campaigns to help the homelesswas begun with the emergence of the Big Issue magazine. The Big Issuehas various aims such as enabling the homeless to turn away frombegging and make a legitimate living selling the magazine. The BigIssue is an organisation that invests its profits into helping thehomeless and to give them the chance, confidence and skills to helpthemselves. The Big Issue is intended to give the homeless the chanceto voice their opinions or concerns when more conventional media doesnot and as they are denied the vote in local and national elections asthey have no place of residence. The Big Issue enjoys strong salesthat allow its vendors to make a living and funds its provision ofservices to the homeless. For instance during 2003 its average weeklysales in England and Wales were 130,958 and 32,554 in Scotland (Aboutthe Big Issue, bigissue_com). The Big Issue was first published as amonthly London only magazine in September 1991. The idea behind themagazine was simple, homeless people could make a living by selling itwhilst the magazine itself would raise public awareness of homelessnessand perhaps persuade government to see the issue as having greaterimportance. Gordon Roddick and A. John Bird were the founders of thepublication. They had the idea of starting the Big Issue after Roddickcame across the ‘Street News' sold by homeless people in New York thatgave them money without them begging and helped them find their ownhomes. A combination of good sales, the realisation that homelessnesswas not just confined to London and signs that the magazine was havinga positive impact on homeless people led to the Big Issue becoming aweekly publication. In June 1993 the Big Issue became a nationalmagazine when its publication was expanded to regional versions inManchester, Glasgow, Cardiff, Bristol and Birmingham. This expansionin turn meant that more people became aware of the homelessness issueand the magazine sold more copies and could help more vendors (AboutUs, Significant Dates, bigissue_com). The Big Issue currently spends66% of its £1 million annual budget on service provision whilstreceiving of its income from public funding and a further 36% fromindividual sellers and charity or gift donations. In many respects theachievements of the Big Issue are great considering its fairly smallsize and expenditure (The Big Issue Foundation, bigissue_com).
The Big Issue badges up or approves up to 3,000 vendors in London andaround 10,000 vendors across the rest of Britain annually. Of theseofficial vendors the Big Issue reckon that only 500 are active inLondon and some 2,000 are active across the country on any given day. Vendors are only allowed to buy and sell the Big Issue after signing upto the Big Issue Code of Conduct after which they receive their BigIssue badge. Vendors are considered to be self-employed just likepeople that sell other newspapers or magazine on news stands. They haveto manage their own accounts and inform the Inland Revenue and the DWPof their earnings. The Big Issue provides them with ongoing support ifand when they need it. Vendors are left to run their own pitch inanyway they please as long as they stick to the code of conduct. TheBig Issue does not tell its vendors what to do with their time or moneyafter they have finished selling for the day as they should be treatedlike responsible adults that make their own decisions. (About UsVendors, bigissue_com). The Big Issue has helped people like John fromLondon get back on their feet after becoming homeless. John himselfbecame homeless after a relationship breakdown and being maderedundant. Through his own work and with guidance from the Big IssueFoundation he now has a home and a place at university. (The Big IssueFoundation, John's Story, bigissue_com).
The Big Issue helped to keep homelessness firmly on the politicalagenda during the last years of Conservative government when a periodof economic recovery could not save a government that seemed to haverun out of ideas and credibility after its general election victory in1992. Tony Blair and New Labour may have won a landslide victory in thegeneral election of 1997 yet they had abandoned much of the Labourparty's traditional policies and rhetoric to do so. New Labour wouldnot bring back Keynesian economics, unrestricted welfare spending orthe mass construction of council houses to eradicate homelessness. Changes of government can not always change peoples' attitudes towardshomelessness or the homeless. It does not make a difference if there isa Conservative or Labour government most people would chose not to buya Big Issue or give money to beggars yet would chose to ignore homelesspeople so as to avoid having any kind of contact with them. Much lesscommon are people that will purchase the Big Issue or those that willsay no when offered the latest copy of the magazine. Some members ofthe public are opposed to homeless people trying to help themselves,dislike begging intensely and believe that Big Issue vendors have noright to sell the magazine to provide themselves with an income. Thosepeople that believe that they have already done their bit to help thehomeless by paying their taxes can regard homelessness and begging as abig issue. It has been a perception shared by Poor Law Guardians,senior government officials and members of the general public that maygive beggars something to eat or drink rather than cash they can spendon drugs or alcohol. Mistrust of homeless people is probably as strongas it ever was, people resent been asked for money especially if theyare asked in an aggressive manner (Malin, Wilmot, & Manthorpe,2003, p.54). There are an even smaller minority that openly hostiletowards homeless people and will physically and verbally abuse them inthe street. There are however people that wish to tackle and reducehomelessness. This group for instance would include regular buyers ofthe Big Issue plus those that work or volunteer for Shelter andCrisis.
Some people do feel intimidated if confronted by groups of homelesspeople yet less so if faced with Big Issue vendors on their own.Stopping people from having to sleep rough by whatever means can onlybe a desirable aim as it allows them to regain a future for themselvesand removes the health and social ills associated with homelessness(Jones and Lowe, 2002, p. 189).
People's perceptions of the homeless might actually change if theystopped to buy even a single copy of the Big Issue and speak to any ofits vendors. Or as when reader wrote in a recent issue of the Big Issue‘After buying a copy I have found vendors to be so nice and friendly(The Big Issue in the North June 27-July 32005 No. 574).
Homelessness and its nature have changed since the 1960s. The majorityof homeless people on the streets are young men. This group of thepopulation has been more aversely affected by social changes in thelast three decades, especially the greater number of marriage andfamily break-up's. Men are far more prone to become homeless than womenare. In contrast women and young children are more likely to havehousing found for them. The fact that many of those made homeless areyoung men can add to the perceptions and prejudices that the generalpublic has with regard to homelessness and begging. On the one handseeing young men on the streets that outwardly appear to be able bodiedcan feed the perception that the homeless could and should be workingrather than being on the streets ruining their health with drink anddrugs. Or it can spur people into action to prevent the waste of allthose lives getting them off the streets and giving them a future back(Jones & Lowe, 2002, p189).
The growth of single member households has contributed to the scarcityof housing. That housing scarcity was not helped by the sell off ofcouncil houses and the fewer number of avoidable houses being built.Since 1997 the New Labour government has attempted to reduce the levelof homelessness in Britain with Prime Minister Tony Blair seeminglycommitted to such an outcome. Whilst wishing to reduce homelessnessNew Labour also pledged zero tolerance of begging. Lord Rooker theMinister of State for Regeneration and Regional Development termed thegovernment's ambitions in the following way:
‘The days of Cathy Come Home are, thankfully, a thing of the past. Ourstrong legislation ensures that families with children and othervulnerable people are given accommodation if they become homelessthrough no fault of their own' (ODPM, 2005, p. 5).
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) has been maderesponsible for cutting the level of homelessness by 2010 to half the1998 levels. This shows that the government does see homelessness andbegging as a big issue as part of its efforts to increase the levels ofsocial inclusion. New Labour is also publicly committed to reducinghomelessness as part of its efforts to lower poverty and to improve thenation's health. The ODPM has drawn strategies to lower homelessnessthat involves co-operation with other government departments such asthe DWP and local authorities. Research and data from the ODPM showsthat it has had some success in reducing homeless levels since 1997.The government's objectives have included reducing the number offamilies in temporary accommodation as well as people living on thestreets. To achieve the government's aims it is projected that spendingon reducing homelessness will increase from its present £60 million to£74 million by the end of the 2007-08 financial year. The governmentplans to increase its funding of hostels and shelters and theirstandards through an improvement scheme worth £90 million (ODPM, 2005,p.8). Between 1997 and 2004 the number of people sleeping roughdeclined from 1850 to 508 and had actually gone as low as 504 in 2003(ODPM, 2005, p.9).
On a personal level I would not give money to beggars because I do notwish to encourage begging. I am not a frequent buyer of the Big Issue,perhaps buying a copy every month or so. Perhaps I should buy it everyweek to help more people. As for the quality of the magazine I believeit to be produced to a high standard. I respect the Big Issue vendorsmaking a living for themselves by working instead of begging whilstseeking to improve their lives. In my experience I have found themajority of Big Issue vendors to be polite and usually good natureddespite been out in all weathers with the majority of people justignoring them. I think people are rude towards Big Issue sellers whenthey ignore them. Personally if I do not wish to purchase the currentedition of the Big Issue or if I have already done so I will say nothank you to the seller if asked to buy a copy. Only on rare occasionshave I seen Big Issue sellers beg or had them ask me for a cup of teaetc. On every occasion that has happened I have refused to give themany money although I did not report them to the Big Issue to take anyaction against them. I would consider making a donation to the BigIssue Foundation, as it seems to make highly effective differences topeople's lives on relatively small resources. I would have no problemsin volunteering for Crisis and Shelter as they too have helped homelesspeople to rebuild their lives.
Therefore homelessness and begging can be seen as a big issue yet onethat has not always maintained its position within the publicspotlight. Homelessness and begging have rarely been placed at thecentre of government policies and action. As mentioned English andlater British governments based their strategy for containing ratherthan countering homelessness and begging upon the Poor Law Act and thePoor Law Amendment Act until the advent of council houses in theinter-war period and the creation of the welfare state after 1945. Thewelfare state reduced homelessness and begging yet did not completelyeradicate it. People's assumption that homelessness was no longer aproblem were disproved in the mid 1960s with the drama Cathy Come Homecoinciding with the launch of Shelter and inspiring the creation ofCrisis. Shelter and Crisis have since campaigned to end homelessnesswhilst advising and assisting the homeless. Homelessness has been madeworse by changing social factors such as marriage or family break-ups,mental health problems and previous time in prison or care homes. Overall perhaps the biggest perception towards homelessness that can benoticed is that of indifference or unconcern, people ignore the problemand hope that the homeless will simply go away. The vast majority ofpeople will simply walk past Big Issue vendors just as they wouldignore beggars.
Governments can play their part in reducing homelessness and begging orindeed increasing it. The policies pursued by the Conservativegovernments between 1979 and 1997 were not conducive to reducinghomelessness and indeed the recessions of the early 1980s and early1990's made it worse. The policy of selling council houses and the carein the community schemes added to the homelessness. The Big Issue waslaunched in 1991 just as the recession was making large numbershomeless. To its credit New Labour has taken steps to cut homelessnessdrastically by 2010 and if its statistics are correct is on course todo so. New Labour has attempted to reduce homelessness by tackling someof the root causes such as family disputes and disagreements betweentenants and landlords. Homelessness especially if over a prolongedperiod can have serious health consequences such as drug addiction,alcoholism declining mental health. Homelessness should be seen as abig issue because it ruins lives that need not be ruined. Whenconsidering that Britain is still one of the richest countries in theworld then surely enough resources could be found to drastically reduceor even eradicate homelessness completely.
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