When the average person conjures a vision of a homeless person in their mind’s eye, a majority would see a disheveled, down on his luck man. This common perception has led to many misconceptions about the homeless population, both in gender and the reasons for being unsheltered. Women, since the beginning of time, have been perceived as the weaker sex, in need of a strong man, whether a partner or family member, to take care of them. At some point in time, the familial structure that protected women from destitution and homelessness changed. The rise of the dysfunctional family was not the only cause that added more women to the streets.
Many causes should be taken into consideration when exploring the changes in the prevalence of women without a home to call their own. The steady rise in the drug culture, escalating abuse in relationships, lack of education, loss of social programs and services, changes in equality, and the changes in how society views women are just a few to be considered. This paper will address the historiography on homelessness, as well as augment that scholarship, with an argument that women have been overlooked as a significant member of the homeless population for too long. This error in analysis has caused an unclear picture of what these women have been through, what they need, and how the American dream has let them down.
