Informal and Gendered Practices in a Homeless Persons Unit

The informal categorisation of clients into those who are more and those who are less ‘deserving’ of help has been a noted occurrence amongst welfare officials. Whilst such practices usually do not constitute official policy, it is recognised that shorthand rules and stereotyping are inevitable and necessary for the effective delivery of public service work. Using data from observations and interviews at several homeless assessment sites, this paper examines the evidence that the gender of a homeless person affects the way they are categorised by housing officers. The research finds that housing officers see homeless women as the more ‘deserving’ group and explanations for this are explored. However, a relative lack of appropriate short-term housing options for women means that the outcomes of women's cases may not reflect their more ‘deserving’ categorisation.