Characteristics of homeless women living in London hostels

To increase knowledge of homeless women in Britain, 49 female residents of two hostels were interviewed. The median age was 31 years, two- thirds had never married, and nearly three-fourths were born in England. When the sample was divided into younger and older groups by median age, significantly more black women were in the younger group. Older women had more serious mental illnesses and more problems with addiction. Median length of stay in the hostels was much shorter than the median time since becoming homeless, supporting other findings that women form a "hidden-homeless" subgroup. The findings suggest that younger and older homeless women may have different health and social service needs.