Income and State Benefits for Women Living Homeless in Madrid, Spain

Abstract

People in a situation of homelessness represent one of the major manifestations of the phenomenon of social exclusion, with women living homeless constituting a collective in a position of particular vulnerability. This article examines a sample of women living homeless in Madrid, Spain (n = 136), their main sources of income, and their access to economic benefits from the government. It also analyzes the differences between participants based on whether they are in receipt of such benefits. A structured interview was used to gather the information. The results show the difficulties experienced by women living homeless in Madrid in accessing income and their limited access to state benefits, which amount to such a meager economic sum that they are insufficient to access independent housing. Differences in access to state benefits are examined based on variables such as age, nationality, length of time homeless, substance abuse, and suffering from a disability.

Keywords:

• homeless
• women
• income
• government benefits
• social exclusion
• poverty

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación of Spain [PID2019-104152GB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033].

Notes on contributors

José Juan Vázquez

José Juan Vázquez, PhD, is Professor at the Department of Social Psychology of the University of Alcalá (Spain). His research focuses on social inclusion, poverty reduction, and equality.

Sonia Panadero

Sonia Panadero, PhD, is Professor at the Department of Personality, Psychological Assessment and Clinical Psychology (Faculty of Psychology) of Complutense University of Madrid (Spain). Her research focuses on social inclusion, homelessness, mental health and program evaluation.