The popular perception of homelessness often tends to be tied specifically to images of people sleeping rough on the streets, but in fact homelessness is a much wider problem which affects many more people than the relatively small number of rough sleepers in the UK.

In this section of the OSW website you can find some basic information about homelessness as an issue. For some general definitions, statistics, and pointers towards further resources, visit the homelessness statistics page. You can also find a basic breakdown of some of the causes and effects of homelessness. Finally, we have also summarised some important issues around employment for homeless people.

You can find demographic data about people accessing OSW's services by visiting the OSW's clients page in the About OSW section of the site.