Researchers and policy makers have long hypothesised that homelessness results from interactions between structural conditions and individual characteristics.
Without adequate individual-level longitudinal data, researchers have previously only been able to test whether area-level conditions OR individual risk factors affect homelessness. The failure to account for the interaction between structural and individual factors means that studies typically over-emphasize the role of social structures or alternatively, the influence of individual characteristics. This is the first study, local or international, to examine the impact of interactions between structural conditions (at the area-level) and individual factors on an individual’s risk of experiencing homelessness.