Job losses and shelter crowding are reported to be driving up homelessness in Taiwan

Social workers reported a rise in the number of people experiencing homelessness, and the source says the number of people in shelters has increased. A new reception centre sends workers onto the streets late at night each week to learn about the situation of homeless people and to offer help. The source also says social workers have visited almost all unemployed people in the area. It states that the county is planning to set up a tent in response to the increase, though the report does not give further details about that plan.

The source says a shelter recently recorded a significant increase in the number of homeless people in the city’s eastern district, where the crowd was concentrated during events in a central park. According to the report, one quarter of those gathered had recently lost their jobs. Social workers described most of those they met as middle-aged men, around 40 years old, many of them blue-collar workers who had been the main earners for their families. The report says some had been unemployed for a long period, some had been forced out of their homes, and some had shown a willingness to work but had not found employment.

One 41-year-old man told the reporter that he had fallen from a height a year earlier and broken his hands. He said his family had pushed him out of the home during a long period of unemployment, and that for six months he had moved from place to place, relying on the help of a friend.

Social workers also said that the shelter had previously provided food and a place to sleep but restricted alcohol and other improper behavior, and that many people experiencing homelessness preferred to stay outside the shelter as a result. The source says the number of people wanting to enter the shelter rose from 4 to 10 more, though it does not clearly explain the connection between these figures and the shelter’s rules.

The report describes other cases as well. The youngest person mentioned is a 24-year-old woman who, after losing her job in Taipei, returned home, where the source says she had a poor relationship with her family, and then became homeless. Another man, 42, had served in the Air Force and later worked for a well-known shipping company in the country. After he lost his job, the source says he lost his family and often went without food for one or two days.

The report also says that a homeless person with liver problems was hospitalized with help from county social services, has now been discharged, and has been placed in the care of relevant institutions.

Source: Read the original report (translated from Mandarin Chinese)