La rue et le foyer

Abstract

A French research programme on the homeless and poorly housed in the 1990s This book is the synthesis of research based on a sample survey - the first of its kind in France - of homeless people in Paris in 1995. Initiated by the French national council of statistical information (CNIS), the survey was designed and conducted by INED, and the methodology developed is to be applied at the national level. The survey results and accompanying research have enriched understanding of the world of the homeless and in particular of the complex and highly ordered network of hostels and shelters in Paris. The contributors address a number of key questions about the homeless. Who are they? How do they live? How did they live before becoming homeless? Also explored is how a deterioration in housing and labour markets intensifies the struggle among the poor, a process in which the most disadvantaged are the victims.