Including the most excluded? A qualitative analysis of the non-take-up of an address for people experiencing homelessness in Belgium

In many European countries, one needs a permanent address or domicile to be entitled to social rights. To address this minimum prerequisite, mechanisms for administrative inclusion are in place for people experiencing homelessness without an address, such as the reference address in Belgium. Yet, hitherto, poverty organizations raised concerns whether it succeeds in doing so. This paper disentangles the non-take-up mechanisms behind this reference address by drawing on interviews with professionals. Our evidence suggests this address is a minimum minimorum of social protection, albeit it can r... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Laure-lise Robben
Griet Roets
Wagener, Martin
Wim Van Lancker
Koen Hermans
Dokumenttyp: workingPaper
Erscheinungsdatum: 2022
Schlagwörter: homelessness / non-take-up / social rights / social protection / social exclusion / administrative address
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27377429
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/261804

In many European countries, one needs a permanent address or domicile to be entitled to social rights. To address this minimum prerequisite, mechanisms for administrative inclusion are in place for people experiencing homelessness without an address, such as the reference address in Belgium. Yet, hitherto, poverty organizations raised concerns whether it succeeds in doing so. This paper disentangles the non-take-up mechanisms behind this reference address by drawing on interviews with professionals. Our evidence suggests this address is a minimum minimorum of social protection, albeit it can reflect and reinforce administrative and social exclusion of the beneficiaries through (1) the disproportionate punitive consequences when not complying to the imposed (sometimes additional) criteria, (2) their subjection to interprofessional (sometimes arbitrary) variation of the administration, and (3) their stigmatization. By focusing on this key policy targeting people experiencing homelessness, the results contribute to the debate on the entitlement to and non-take-up of rights, the barriers that homeless persons are confronted with, and the possibility of an administrative address that includes the most excluded.