Full Description
A century after the state's foundation, Ireland faces an acute homelessness crisis with families and children increasingly affected. This book uncovers how decades of housing policy, financial decisions and social factors have shaped today's housing insecurity. It is the first to take a historical approach, tracing the roots of homelessness back to key policy decisions taken over the past century.
By understanding how we got here, it offers crucial insights into breaking the cycle. Essential reading for policy makers, scholars and anyone concerned about Ireland's housing future, with lessons for other jurisdictions, this book reveals why solving homelessness requires rethinking how we build and fund housing.
Contents
Introduction
1. Poor Laws, the Family Economy and Housing Policy 1922 - 1948
2. 1948-1963: The End of the Poor Laws, Economic Development and Modernisation
3. National Housing Policy, Housing Agitation and the Emergence of the Homelessness Sector, 1964-1988
4. From the Housing Act, 1988 to A Homelessness Strategy, 1988-2000
5. A Decade of Contrasts: Policy Innovation and Austerity, 2001-2011
6. From Austerity to Economic Recovery 2012-2016
7. Homelessness Becomes as a National Crisis 2016-2020
8. COVID-19 and Responses to Homelessness 2020-2022
9. Conclusion: Ireland in Comparative Context
