TY - JOUR
T1 - Employment Status and Income Generation Among Homeless Young Adults
T2 - Results From a Five-City, Mixed-Methods Study
AU - Ferguson, Kristin M.
AU - Bender, Kimberly
AU - Thompson, Sanna J.
AU - Maccio, Elaine M.
AU - Pollio, David
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed that they received the following support for the research and/or authorship of this article: Funding for this study was provided in Los Angeles by the Haynes Foundation, in Denver by the University of Denver, Graduate School of Social Work, in New Orleans by Louisiana State University’s Council on Research Faculty Research Grant program, and in Austin and St. Louis by the Center for Mental Health Services Research, George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis.
PY - 2012/9
Y1 - 2012/9
N2 - This mixed-methods study identified correlates of unemployment among homeless young adults in five cities. Two hundred thirty-eight homeless young people from Los Angeles (n = 50), Austin (n = 50), Denver (n = 50), New Orleans (n = 50), and St. Louis (n = 38) were recruited using comparable sampling strategies. Multivariate logistic regression results indicate that homeless young adults were more likely to be unemployed if they had been on the streets longer, currently lived on the streets, earned an income from panhandling, and were addicted to drugs. Quantitative findings are expanded on with focus-group data from a group of homeless young people in Los Angeles regarding their challenges in locating and maintaining employment. Employment-related barriers for this population include prior homelessness, geographic transience, previous felonies, mental illness, and addiction. Findings suggest that homeless young adults' employment status and use of specific income-generating activities may be influenced by demographic, environmental, and geographic contexts.
AB - This mixed-methods study identified correlates of unemployment among homeless young adults in five cities. Two hundred thirty-eight homeless young people from Los Angeles (n = 50), Austin (n = 50), Denver (n = 50), New Orleans (n = 50), and St. Louis (n = 38) were recruited using comparable sampling strategies. Multivariate logistic regression results indicate that homeless young adults were more likely to be unemployed if they had been on the streets longer, currently lived on the streets, earned an income from panhandling, and were addicted to drugs. Quantitative findings are expanded on with focus-group data from a group of homeless young people in Los Angeles regarding their challenges in locating and maintaining employment. Employment-related barriers for this population include prior homelessness, geographic transience, previous felonies, mental illness, and addiction. Findings suggest that homeless young adults' employment status and use of specific income-generating activities may be influenced by demographic, environmental, and geographic contexts.
KW - employment
KW - homeless young adults
KW - risk behavior
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84864805193&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1177/0044118X11402851
DO - 10.1177/0044118X11402851
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84864805193
SN - 0044-118X
VL - 44
SP - 385
EP - 407
JO - Youth and Society
JF - Youth and Society
IS - 3
ER -