Exploring the impact of housing insecurity on the health and wellbeing of children and young people in the United Kingdom: a qualitative systematic review
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Date
2024
Authors
Hock, E.S.
Blank, L.
Fairbrother, H.
Clowes, M.
Cuevas, D.C.
Booth, A.
Clair, A.
Goyder, E.
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Journal article
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BMC Public Health, 2024; 24(1):2453-1-2453-37
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Emma S. Hock, Lindsay Blank, Hannah Fairbrother, Mark Clowes, Diana Castelblanco Cuevas, Andrew Booth, Amy Clair and Elizabeth Goyder
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Abstract
Background Housing insecurity can be understood as experiencing or being at risk of multiple house moves that are not through choice and related to poverty. Many aspects of housing have all been shown to impact children/ young people’s health and wellbeing. However, the pathways linking housing and childhood health and wellbeing are complex and poorly understood. Methods We undertook a systematic review synthesising qualitative data on the perspectives of children/young people and those close to them, from the United Kingdom (UK). We searched databases, reference lists, and UK grey literature. We extracted and tabulated key data from the included papers, and appraised study quality. We used best fit framework synthesis combined with thematic synthesis, and generated diagrams to illustrate hypothesised causal pathways. Results We included 59 studies and identified four populations: those experiencing housing insecurity in general (40 papers); associated with domestic violence (nine papers); associated with migration status (13 papers); and due to demolition-related forced relocation (two papers). Housing insecurity took many forms and resulted from several interrelated situations, including eviction or a forced move, temporary accommodation, exposure to problematic behaviour, overcrowded/poor-condition/unsuitable property, and making multiple moves. Impacts included schoolrelated, psychological, financial and family wellbeing impacts, daily long-distance travel, and poor living conditions, all of which could further exacerbate housing insecurity. People perceived that these experiences led to mental and physical health problems, tiredness and delayed development. The impact of housing insecurity was lessened by friendship and support, staying at the same school, having hope for the future, and parenting practices. The negative impacts of housing insecurity on child/adolescent health and wellbeing may be compounded by specific life circumstances, such as escaping domestic violence, migration status, or demolition-related relocation. Conclusion Housing insecurity has a profound impact on children and young people. Policies should focus on reducing housing insecurity among families, particularly in relation to reducing eviction; improving, and reducing the need for, temporary accommodation; minimum requirements for property condition; and support to reduce multiple and long-distance moves. Those working with children/young people and families experiencing housing insecurity should prioritise giving them optimal choice and control over situations that affect them.
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Published online: 09 September 2024
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© The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.