Homeless without benefits: the non-take-up problem

Shmulik Szeintuch

Housing Studies, 2022, vol. 37, issue 5, 673-692

Abstract: Despite the extensive literature on non-take-up of rights in welfare states, the problem has been little studied in relation to homelessness specifically. Part of a larger research project on homelessness services, the present study examined the issue in Israel. The review of the literature points to methodological problems in assessing non-take-up, which may be reduced by using administrative data. Based on questionnaire responses of 107 participants working with people experiencing homelessness, 13 interviews, grey literature and quantitative administrative data, the findings suggest that in 2016, only 38% and 48% of people experiencing homelessness in Israel have taken up income and rent support, respectively, due to structural and bureaucratic barriers and cost-benefit calculations that factor in social stigmas. Ways of reducing bureaucratic barriers and ensuring welfare provision to prevent and end homelessness are discussed, as is the possibility of institutional compassion as a way of increasing take-up.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1080/02673037.2020.1823330

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