PRECARITY IN THE SEARCH FOR STABILITY: HOW YOUTHS ENTER INTO AND NEGOTIATE THEIR HOMELESSNESS IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

This thesis is an ethnographic study of youth homelessness in Singapore. Focusing on the perspectives of 10 youths aged between 18 and 35, this thesis examines how they enter into and experience homelessness. Participant observation, go-alongs and semi-structured interviews were adopted as methods of data collection. Using Bourdieu’s (1986) theoretical framework of capital, this thesis derives two key findings from its observation and interview data. The first highlights how youths became homeless due to a breakdown of familial relationships, which stemmed from a combination of abuse, neglect, and rejection. The family constitutes a central source of social, economic, and cultural capital that is absent or lacking in the lives of homeless youths. The second finding relates to the everyday challenges of homelessness, namely the precarity of homelessness, difficulty in meeting basic needs and disruption of school. Homeless youths relied on economic capital acquired through employment and a combination of bonding and bridging social capital outside the family. Yet, the accrual of economic capital came at the expense of education, which translated to a loss of cultural capital. Bonding social capital was also insufficient in securing long-term stable housing. Theoretically, this thesis enriches the dominant framework of social capital employed in youth homelessness literature by incorporating Bourdieu’s concepts of capital. It also examines youth homelessness within a wider context of social inequality. Finally, this thesis gleans a deeper insight into the lives of homeless youths in order to identify their needs and better inform social policies.