Homelessness

Sometimes there can be 400 people sleeping on the streets of London every night. Thousands of others have no home, but sleep in hostels for the homeless. This accommodation is temporary, so they are always moving around. The Big Issue is a magazine, which talks about the problems of living on the streets. Some homeless people sell the magazine in the streets to earn money.

Finding somewhere cheap to live is not easy in Britain because there is not enough council housing or cheap rented accommodation. It is especially difficult for young people without work because they receive very little money from the state. If they are under 18, have left home and are not on a government work training scheme, they receive no money from the state.

Michael Vaughan-Rees, Geraldine Sweeney, Picot Cassidy: In Britain; Cornelsen Verlag, 2000, page 35