Government welfare reforms causing youth homelessness

The report states that:

• Changes to welfare - including the introduction of Universal Credit and the capping of housing benefit – are increasing homelessness amongst young people
• There is an increased demand for youth homelessness services and a 45% increase in young men sleeping rough
• The majority of young people face difficulty in accessing help (such as emergency accommodation)
• There is already a wide range of services aimed at preventing young people from becoming homeless, but many of these need to be improved.

Porchlight was among 188 organisations that contributed information to Homeless Link for the report.