Rough Sleeping in a Recession

Ipsos conducted this study on behalf of St Mungo's. The study investigates the impact of the current recession, in particular in terms of fears relating to homelessness.

Key findings

• Three quarters of British adults say they either expect to, or have already, reduced their spending on key items
• Around one in ten expect to, or have already reduced their donations to charity
• Half are concerned about their financial situation
• Three in ten of those in employment are concerned about being made redundant
• One in seven are concerned that they may be forced to leave their home due to falling behind on mortgage or rent payments
• The majority (seven in ten) think rough sleeping is likely to increase due to the current economic situation
• Eight in ten think the government should be doing more to prevent people who are at risk from loosing their home
• Most (approaching six in ten) say that if they were to become homeless they would turn to family to provide them with accommodation

Download the topline results Download the tables Download the full report

Technical details

The questions were placed on one wave of the Ipsos Capibus, the regular Ipsos survey among the general public.160 A nationally representative quota sample of 2,014 throughout Great Britain was interviewed by Ipsos.160

Interviews were conducted160face-to-face in respondents' homes, using CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing) between 31 October and 6 November 2008.160