In this paper new findings on the average life expectancy of the population of Britain arc reported according to housing wealth. In addition, estimates of mortality rates for rough sleepers, hostel residents, and bed and breakfast residents are presented. The results indicate that the death rates of bed and breakfast residents are four to five times those of the housed population, death rates for hostel residents are seven times greater, and death rates for rough sleepers are 25 times greater than those of the housed population. At the extremes, people living in the most salubrious housing in Britain (holding over £100 000 of equity in their properties) can expect to live, on average, more than twice as long as those sleeping rough on the streets.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AlstromC HLindeliusRSalumI, 1975, “Mortality among homeless men”British Journal of Addiction to Alcohol and Other Drugs70245–252
2.
BalazsJ, 1993, “Health care for single homeless people”, in Homelessness, Health Care and Welfare Provision Eds FisherKCollinsJ (Routledge, London) pp 51–94
3.
BinesW, 1994, “The health of single homeless people”, Centre for Housing Policy, University of York, York
4.
BreslowN EDayN E, 1987Statistical Methods in Cancer Research, Volume 1—The Analysis of Case-control Studies (International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyons)
5.
BrittonM (Ed.), 1990Mortality and Geography: A Review in the Mid-1980s: the Registrar General's Decennial Supplement for England and Wales series DS number 9, Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (HMSO, London)
6.
CarterM, 1997, “The last resort: living in bed and breakfast in the 1990s”, Shelter, 88 Old Street, London EC1V 9AX
7.
CollettD, 1990, “Five years on: a history of primary health care for the homeless in Oxford”, Oxford Homeless Medical Fund, Oxford
8.
DorlingD, 1995A New Social Atlas of Britain (John Wiley, Chichester, Sussex)
9.
EvertonJ, 1993, “Single homelessness and social policy”, in Homelessness, Health Care and Welfare Provision Eds FisherKCollinsJ (Routledge, London) pp 12–31
10.
FilaktiHFoxJ, 1995, “Differences in mortality by housing tenure and by car access from the OPCS Longitudinal Study”Population Trends8127–30
11.
FisherKCollinsJ, 1993, “Access to health care”, in Homelessness, Health Care and Welfare Provision Eds FisherKCollinsJ (Routledge, London) pp 32–50
12.
GrenierP, 1996, “Still dying for a home: an update of Crisis' 1992 investigation into the links between homelessness, health and mortality”, Crisis, 11 Southwark Street, London SE1 1RQ
13.
HanzlickRParrishR G, 1993, “Death among the homeless in Fulton County, GA, 1988–90”Public Health Reports108488–491
14.
HibbsJ RBennerLKlugmanLSpencerRMacchiaIMellingerAFifeD K, 1994, “Mortality in a cohort of homeless adults in Philadelphia”New England Journal of Medicine331304–309
15.
HwangS WOravE JO'ConnellJ JLebowJ MBrennanT A, 1997, “Causes of death in homeless adults in Boston”Annals of Internal Medicine126625–628
16.
Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health, 1998ReportAchesonDonaldChairman Sir (The Stationery Office, London)
17.
KeyesSKennedyM, 1992, “Sick to death of homelessness”, Crisis, 11 Southwark Street, London SE1 1RQ
18.
KogevinasM, 1990Socio-demographic Differences in Cancer Survival 1971–1983 Series LS, number 5, Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (HMSO, London)
19.
LowryS, 1991Housing and Health (British Medical Journal, London)
20.
OCC, 1996, “Evaluations of the extent of rough sleeping outside central London: report on Oxford”, Oxford City Council, Town Hall, St Aldates, Oxford OX1 1BX
21.
PleaceN, 1998, “The open house project for people sleeping rough: an evaluation”, Centre for Housing Policy, University of York, York
22.
PleaceNQuilgarsD, 1996Health and Homelessness in London: A Review (Kings Fund, London)
23.
PughHPowerCGoldblattPArberS, 1991, “Women's lung cancer mortality, socio-economic status and changing smoking patterns”Social Science and Medicine321105–1110
24.
Royal College of Physicians, 1994Homelessness and Ill-healthRoyal College of Physicians, 11 St Andrews Place, London NW1 4LE
25.
ShawM, 1998, “A place apart: the spatial polarization of mortality in Brighton”, School of Geographical Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol
26.
ShawMDorlingD, 1998, “Mortality among street sleeping youth in the UK”The Lancet 29 August, page 743
27.
ShawMDorlingDGordonDDavey SmithG, 1999The Widening Gap: Health Inequalities and Policy in Britain (Policy Press, Bristol)
28.
ShinerM, 1995, “Adding insult to injury: homelessness and health service use”Sociology of Health and Illness17525–549
29.
SternRStillwellBHeustonJ, 1989, “From the margins to the mainstream: collaboration and planning services for single homeless people”, Priority Services Unit, West Lambeth Health Authority, London)
30.
Tudor HartJ, 1971, “Misuse of psychiatry”The Lancet1(7802) 547
31.
UN, 1998Human Development Report, 1998 (United Nations, New York)
32.
VictorC R, 1997, “The health of homeless people in Britain: a review”European Journal of Public Health7398–404
33.
WannametheeS GShaperA G, 1997, “Socioeconomic status within social class and mortality: a prospective study in middle-age British men”International Journal of Epidemiology26532–541
34.
WiddowfieldR, 1999, “The limitations of official homelessness statistics”, in Statistics in Society: The Arithmetic of Politics Eds DorlingDSimpsonS (Arnold, London) pp 181–188
35.
WilliamsSAllenI, 1989, “Health care for single homeless people”, Policy Studies Institute, London
