Homeless in Spain: an analysis based on multidimensional indicators of deprivation

Abstract

This paper analyses the situation of the homeless in Spain before and during the Great Recession, using a multidimensional approach based on the construction of a new indicator of their deprivations, inspired by a counting approach mainly developed for poverty analysis. This indicator considers dimensions related to health and social contacts, in addition to purely economic ones. Using data from 2005 and 2012, the static analysis is complemented with a study of the changes experienced by the homeless before and during the Great Recession and how some sociodemographic aspects are related to their probability of being a worse situation of multidimensional deprivation. Results show that the levels of deprivation in the homeless population declined after the Great Recession.