Singapore’s rough sleeper count dips slightly in 2025; MSF to launch S$450,000 fund to tackle homelessness
Dr Harry Tan, principal investigator of the IPS study, said the researchers embarked on the study to answer a “simple yet puzzling” question of why some homeless people sleep outdoors for such long periods.
“Long-term homelessness is a key challenge for governments, researchers, and outreach volunteers in Singapore and around the world, and the issues are often complex, unfolding across different stages of life.
“While policies are in place, tackling homelessness requires the efforts of government, community groups, and society as a whole,” Dr Tan said.
The first phase of the study was conducted between August 2021 and April 2022, which coincided with the immediate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It involved interviews with 50 people who had experienced homelessness and were admitted to shelters during the pandemic.
Of these, 34 were individuals and 16 were families. Most were male, divorced or separated, and nearly all were Singapore citizens.
All respondents in the first phase of the study were found to have experienced multiple stressors, with more than 50 per cent experiencing five or more stressors in their lives.
More than 30 per cent of respondents cited income loss, low education, family conflict and marital conflict as key challenges.
Participants who were separated, divorced, or widowed experienced approximately five different types of stressors, compared with four stressors among those who were married or single.
Those who were separated and undergoing divorce proceedings, as well as those who were widowed at the time of the interview, also had a higher number of stressors, ranging from four to seven per person.
Single-parent families experienced the highest number of stressors. The study found that they experienced an average of seven stressors, higher than other family types.
The study found that all family types experienced income loss, low education, family conflict, marital conflict, unemployment and had financially dependent children.
“Only single-parent families experienced mental health and domestic abuse stressors, and only intact Singaporean families experienced stressors relating to poor health and elder caregiving,” the report said.
Homelessness was found to rarely be the result of a single action or event in people’s lives, it added.
Nonetheless, most participants’ first experience of homelessness was either rough sleeping, at 49 per cent, or unstable informal accommodation, at 46 per cent.
Drawing on the varied family dynamics and stressors faced by the interviewed families, IPS identified several distinct pathways that show how a person can end up in long-term homelessness.
Some of the pathways showed the breakdown of spousal relationships through divorce or separation, as well as spousal abuse.
Some participants in the study had entered homelessness immediately after divorce or separation and lacked the resources or support to secure alternative housing. Out of seven participants in the sample, five had been homeless since before the pandemic.
Those who experienced spousal abuse often end up in recurring episodes of homelessness if they remain with their spouses.
In the next two phases of the study, carried out from September 2022 to May 2024, researchers conducted interviews and participant observations with 41 participants.
They had either experienced, or were currently experiencing, homelessness for at least a year, or had undergone multiple episodes of homelessness that together amounted to at least a year.
Of these, 28 were individuals and 13 were families.
Researchers identified how the multiple stressors that people experience in different stages of their lives could lead to homelessness.
Findings showed that in childhood and up to the age of 20, factors such as growing up in low-income households, low educational attainment, family conflict and the death of a caregiver could increase the risk of homelessness.
These challenges were found to push some individuals into homelessness from a young age.
