Affiliations: [a] Department of Social Psychology, Universidad de Alcalá Alcalá de Henares (Madrid), Spain
| [b] Department of Economy, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain
| [c] Department of Clinical Psychology, Universidad de Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Correspondence:
[*]
Address for correspondence: José Juan Vázquez, Ph.D. Universidad de Alcalá. Área de Psicología Social. Aulario María de Guzmán. C/ San Cirilo, s/n. 28801 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain. Tel.: +34 91 885 2400; E-mail: jj.vazquez@uah.es.; ORCID: 0000-0003-4601-1920.
Note: [1] ORCID: 0000-0002-6043-4666
Note: [2] ORCID: 0000-0002-5470-0251
Abstract: BACKGROUND: People living homeless represent one of the most extreme embodiments of the phenomena of poverty and social exclusion, and women are a particularly vulnerable group among people living homeless. METHODS: Various factors in a sample of women living homeless in Madrid, Spain (n = 136) have been analyzed for relationships to connections to the employment and labor market. Information was collected using a structured interview. RESULTS: Results show the considerable difficulties women living homeless have in accessing the employment and labor market, despite largely having worked throughout their lives, mainly in unstable jobs, in the informal sector or in related marginal activities. In general, women living homeless tended to attribute their difficulties in accessing the labor market to personal characteristics, dispositional factors, or situational factors beyond their control. A large number of interviewees wanted to work, although few of them did so. Interviewees who reported that they were seeking employment were primarily younger women, in better health, who had been unemployed for a short time, had spent less time homeless, and were of foreign origin.
Keywords: Homeless, women, employment, social exclusion, poverty
