Homeless At Christmas
One in six Britons (16%) say Christmas is a time of year they dread, according to new research by MORI. According to the survey, commissioned by Crisis, commercialisation is the most unappealing aspect of Christmas with one in three (32%) naming it. This is followed by spending too much (29%) and Christmas shopping (20%).
One in six Britons (16%) say Christmas is a time of year they dread, according to new research by MORI. According to the survey, commissioned by Crisis, commercialisation is the most unappealing aspect of Christmas with one in three (32%) naming it. This is followed by spending too much (29%) and Christmas shopping (20%).
Meanwhile in a survey by Crisis, one in three homeless people (29%) say they normally spend Christmas alone (compared to two per cent of the general public). Three in five (61%) say they have never enjoyed Christmas since becoming homeless.
Although two in five (40%) homeless people are parents, only six per cent spend Christmas Day with their children. One in three homeless people (33%) have children they don't see on Christmas day (compared to 11% of British parents).
One in four (25%) homeless people do not receive any Christmas cards, while one in three (31%) do not get any presents. One in seven (14%) homeless people say they spend Christmas Day alone in their room, and a similar number (15%) spend the day on the street with friends or people they meet on the streets that day.
Technical details
MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 2,072 adults across Great Britain, between 31 October and 4 November 2002.
Crisis interviewed 100 homeless people in London, St Albans, Birmingham, Leicester and Oxford between 7 and 15 November. Respondents had slept on the streets, in a shelter, squat or on friends' floors the night before interview. Interviews were conducted face-to-face in hostels, day centres and other services for homeless people.
