Racialized Homelessness: A Review of Historical and Contemporary Causes of Racial Disparities in Homelessness

People of color or mixed race account for more than half of all people experiencing homelessness, despite comprising less than a quarter of the total population in the United States. What are the primary drivers of this severe racial concentration of homelessness? Through a literature review of hist...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inHousing policy debate Vol. 32; no. 6; pp. 940 - 967
Main Author Fowle, Matthew Z.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 02.11.2022
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
American Indians
Discrimination
Economic inequality
Homeless people
Homelessness
Housing
inequality
Literature reviews
Minority & ethnic groups
Multiracial people
Race
Race factors
Racial differences
Racial discrimination
racial disparities
Racial inequality
Racialization
Racism
Residential segregation
segregation
Social systems
Stratification
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Summary:People of color or mixed race account for more than half of all people experiencing homelessness, despite comprising less than a quarter of the total population in the United States. What are the primary drivers of this severe racial concentration of homelessness? Through a literature review of historical and contemporary research, this article highlights the extensive history of homelessness among Black, Latinx, and Native American communities and finds evidence for racialized pathways into homelessness. The literature points to three primary systems of stratification that drive racial disparities in homelessness: racial economic inequality, housing discrimination and residential segregation, and the homeless response system. These findings suggest that homelessness is tightly interwoven with institutions and social systems that maintain racial hierarchy. Structural policies that address socioeconomic and racial inequality are more likely than current approaches to make substantial progress in reducing racial disparities in homelessness.
ISSN:1051-1482
2152-050X
DOI:10.1080/10511482.2022.2026995