New census and housing program for the homeless population : Revista Pesquisa Fapesp

An escalating homeless crisis, made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, has seen entire families — along with their pets and belongings — taking refuge in makeshift tents on city streets and public squares. This trend, once confined to developing nations, has now become a global phenomenon. Recent research at the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA) has documented the growth of homelessness in Brazil. One study revealed a significant rise from 90,400 to 281,400 homeless people in the country between 2012 and 2022, a 211% escalation. Researchers exploring this issue unanimously agree that, despite some progress since the launch of Brazil’s National Policy for the Homeless (Decree no. 7053) in 2009, the gap between policy and action remains a significant challenge.

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Marco Antônio Carvalho Natalino, a sociologist at IPEA and the author of the study, notes that the 2019 policy did lead to a number of measures at the federal level. The year it was adopted, the homeless population was included in Brazil’s CadÚnico, a database with information about people living in poverty and extreme poverty. The following year, homeless people were given the right to access the National Healthcare System (SUS) even without proof of residence. In 2012, touring street clinics were introduced, deploying teams of doctors, nurses, psychologists, and other health professionals to provide on-the-ground care. However, because the national policy is voluntary, as of 2020 only 15 municipalities — including São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and the Federal District — had formally committed to implementation. “While the policy does comprehensively outline the measures needed to provide relief to the homeless, Brazil is failing in implementation,” says Natalino. Another survey by the institute found that the number of homeless people registered with CadÚnico increased by over 1000% from 2013 to 2023, jumping from 21,900 to 227,000.

The spread of the homeless population to more locations has become a global trend

Last year, Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court (STF) declared a social emergency, pointing to the lack of official statistical data as a major obstacle in addressing the crisis. The justices mandated the federal, state and municipal governments to implement the guidelines in the National Policy. This prompted the federal government to launch a comprehensive roadmap in 2023 to implement the 2009 policy across social assistance, health, civics, education, housing, employment, and income. With a four-year budget of R$1 billion, the program coordinates initiatives across 11 ministries, research institutions such as the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ), IPEA, and the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), and third-sector organizations.

Officially defined as people “who are living in extreme poverty, have severed family ties, and lack conventional and regular housing, instead using public spaces or shelters to live temporarily or permanently,” people experiencing homelessness were present in 2,300 municipalities in 2023, or 42% of Brazilian cities, according to the Human Rights Observatory of the Brazilian Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship (MDHC). In 2015 this number was 1,200 cities, or 22% of the total, according to CadÚnico data. Roberto Rocha Coelho Pires, an IPEA researcher, was seconded to the MDHC to serve as general coordinator at the executive secretary’s office, and co-led the creation of the observatory. “Despite an increasing number of cities experiencing homelessness, only 218 municipalities had Specialized Homeless Referral Centers, a number that is expected to expand in the coming years,” projects Pires. The study also shows that the top-ten cities with the highest number of homeless people account for 51.5% of the homeless population nationwide — São Paulo tops the list, with 53,800 people reported as homeless (see graph).

The spread of homelessness has become a global trend, according to Fraya Frehse, a sociologist at the University of São Paulo’s School of Philosophy, Languages and Literature, and Humanities (FFLCH-USP). Last year, Frehse conducted research at the University of Cambridge, UK, on the everyday inequalities faced by female heads of homeless families in Latin America during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was funded by the British Academy, an independent UK charity funding research projects in the humanities and social sciences. She also performed comparative analyses of the homeless population in other regions of the globe. “Since the 1980s, the situation has gained increasing public and scientific attention in central capitalist countries, particularly in the US, which has long been the epicenter of the phenomenon,” she says. Today it is a truly global reality, she notes, affecting cities from Los Angeles to Beijing, from London to Melbourne, from Toronto to Singapore, from Berlin to Pretoria, and from Paris to São Paulo. According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, there were 653,000 people living on American streets in 2023, an increase of 12.1% from 2022.

In Europe, a report published in 2023 by the European Federation of National Organizations Working with the Homeless showed that approximately 895,000 people slept on the streets in European Union countries in 2022. According to the report, among the nations with the largest homeless population that year were Germany at around 84,500 and Spain at approximately 28,500. “Reduced investments in affordable housing, increased cost of living, and rising housing prices amid the financialization of the real estate market are some of the underlying factors,” says Frehse of USP. A report from US consultancy Knight Frank reveals that in the second half of 2021, 150 cities worldwide experienced the largest increase in property prices in 18 years, among them São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

Léo Ramos Chaves / Revista Pesquisa FAPESPIn São Paulo’s Santa Cecília neighborhood, a makeshift home built four years ago includes a tiny kitchen, bedroom, and bathroomLéo Ramos Chaves / Revista Pesquisa FAPESP

An evolving field of research
The growth of homelessness has created a whole new field of research. Belgian researcher Marie-Ghislaine Stoffels’s doctoral thesis at the University of São Paulo (USP), defended in 1976, is regarded as one of the seminal sociology studies on homelessness in Brazil. Stoffels’s research examined the living conditions of homeless individuals in São Paulo during the 1970s, using now-dated terms like “beggars” and “begging,” and explored their relationships with religious charities that provided social services at the time. “In Brazil, there has been a major shift in perceptions on homelessness since the enactment of the 1988 Constitution, which recognized social assistance policies as a public and state responsibility,” explains Renata Bichir, a political scientist at the Center for Metropolitan Studies (CEM) at USP, a FAPESP-funded Research, Innovation, and Dissemination Center (RIDC). “Homeless people are no longer seen as mere recipients of charity but instead as rights-bearing citizens.” This political shift also influenced scientific research and terminology, says Frehse. “Studies began using terms like “homeless population,” “unhoused individuals,” and more recently, “people experiencing homelessness,” notes Frehse.

Taniele Cristina Rui, an anthropologist at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), has also observed significant changes in academic research approaches since the 1990s. Previously, many studies on homelessness focused on migration flows from small to large cities. “These studies typically investigated the trajectories of people who moved to urban centers in search of employment and, failing to find jobs, ended up on the streets,” she explains. Today, research has broadened to include those who become homeless in their hometowns. “Many lives are disrupted by alcohol and drug use,” notes Rui, who is currently conducting a FAPESP-funded study on the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on at-risk Brazilian families.

Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News / SCNG via Getty ImagesIn Los Angeles, a woman responds to a homeless censusSarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News / SCNG via Getty Images

In the 1990s, much homeless research dealt with children and teenagers living without their families in downtown areas like Praça da Sé in São Paulo. “Street children using drugs was a commonplace sight in downtown São Paulo and attracted researchers’ interest. But this is less common in urban areas today,” Rui observes. Income transfer programs, such as Bolsa Família, which conditions benefits on children attending school, may have reduced the number of children living on the streets over the past two decades. “Another underlying factor is how the drug market has developed in inner cities. Young boys are now being recruited by drug traffickers, reducing their presence in city centers,” Rui suggests.

Today, social-science research has turned its focus to understanding the daily experience of living on the streets, including relationships, interactions with urban spaces, gender-based violence, and strategies for finding food and shelter. “Beyond social assistance, ensuring housing and income is essential for helping people transition off the streets,” says Rui.

Luis Robayo / AFP via Getty ImagesA man in Cali, Colombia, shows the car he moved into after losing his rental homeLuis Robayo / AFP via Getty Images

The Federal Government, notes Marco Antônio Carvalho Natalino of IPEA, is currently working to better understand the diverse needs of Brazil’s homeless. In late 2023, IPEA carried out a survey to map the profile of the homeless population using data from CadÚnico. The survey found that the homeless population is predominantly male (88%), Black (68%, including 50% mixed-race and 18% Black), and adult-aged (57% aged between 30 and 49 years). The main reasons cited for homelessness were financial hardship (54%), weakened or broken family ties (47.3%), and health issues (32.5%), particularly related to alcohol and drug abuse.

According to the survey, 33.7% of the homeless population had been homeless for up to six months, 14.2% for six months to a year, 13% for one to two years, 16.6% for two to five years, 10.8% for five to ten years, and 11.7% for more than ten years. “The reason for homelessness influences its duration,” explains Natalino. According to the survey, people who are homeless due to family problems or health issues, especially alcohol and drug use, tend to remain homeless longer. In contrast, economic reasons like unemployment often result in shorter episodes of homelessness.

Léo Ramos Chaves / Revista Pesquisa FAPESPTents lining the streets under the President João Goulart overpass, known locally as the Minhocão, in downtown São Paulo: the Federal Government is looking to understand the diverse profiles of the homeless populationLéo Ramos Chaves / Revista Pesquisa FAPESP

Financial problems, family conflicts, and issues related to alcohol and drug abuse were exacerbated during the pandemic, according to Natalino’s analysis. “Between 2019 and 2022, the homeless population increased by 38% as a result of these factors,” he reports. Renata Bichir from CEM notes that the pandemic accentuated the issue of homelessness, prompting policy change. “We believe the pandemic increased the presence of families and children living on the streets. We need in-depth studies to confirm if this is the case and to understand what the current ramifications of this are,” she explains.

In 2022, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) began compiling data on homelessness by counting people living permanently in makeshift shelters — tents, abandoned warehouses, shelters, unfinished buildings, caves (including recesses in bridge abutments), and vehicles. However, a comprehensive national census of the homeless population, as mandated by the Supreme Federal Court (STF) last year, has not yet been conducted. The IBGE is now developing a methodology to implement this requirement.

Alexandre Affonso / Revista Pesquisa FAPESP

Gustavo Junger, from IBGE’s Demographic Census Office, explains that the homeless population has been on the institute’s radar for over two decades. Yet, conducting such a census presents unique methodological challenges. For instance, when individuals are unwilling or unable to participate, census takers must rely on observation. “This approach is challenging for IBGE because our surveys typically rely on self-reporting,” Junger says. Data collection procedures cannot be based on territorial divisions as in conventional censuses, because homeless people frequently move from place to place.

Moreover, some people sleep on the streets only part-time. IBGE’s 2018 Household Budget Survey (POF) revealed that commuting was the second-largest expense for Brazilian families. “We hypothesize that some people sleep on the streets near their work to save on commuting costs, or they are unable to make ends meet,” Junger suggests. These individuals cannot be included in the homeless census as they are already counted in the annual demographic census. A 2013 pilot project to measure Rio de Janeiro’s homeless population revealed further complications, such as the length and complexity of the questionnaire, which respondents found difficult to understand.

The IBGE is developing a methodology for a national homeless census

“We are now exploring various methods of counting the homeless to create a methodology tailored to Brazil’s needs,” Junger says. The IBGE is examining annual homeless censuses in Colombia and surveys in Chile and Mexico, which include the homeless in their national demographic censuses. The methodologies used by cities like São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Belo Horizonte are also being explored.

São Paulo’s most recent census, conducted in 2021 and published in 2022, involved around 200 census takers and required extensive fieldwork to interview and document all homeless individuals living on the streets and in shelters. According to the Municipal Department of Social Assistance and Development (SMADS), São Paulo’s legislation now mandates a census of the homeless population every four years, with the most recent edition initially scheduled for 2023. However, due to the exacerbated social vulnerability following the COVID-19 pandemic, the city decided to complete the census ahead of schedule. With two homeless censuses carried out since 2020, there were an estimated 31,800 individuals living on the streets of São Paulo in 2021.

Léo Ramos Chaves / Revista Pesquisa FAPESP | Rovena Rosa / Agência BrasilHomeless people in São Paulo (above) and Rio de JaneiroLéo Ramos Chaves / Revista Pesquisa FAPESP | Rovena Rosa / Agência Brasil

Building on these preliminary studies, in late 2023 the IBGE conducted a new pilot survey in Niterói (RJ), in collaboration with Rio de Janeiro’s Pereira Passos Municipal Urbanism Institute and the Niterói city government. The survey results will be discussed in the coming months.

Despite the absence of a national census, approximately 2,000 Brazilian cities conduct their own censuses of the homeless population, says Natalino from IPEA, among them Juiz de Fora (MG). Alexandre Aranha Arbia, a professor of social work at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), notes that data collection and analysis methodologies differ from one city to another. In 2016, Juiz de Fora’s city government included not only the homeless but also those who earn a living on the streets, such as those begging at traffic lights, but who return home at night.

Building on insights from this survey, UFJF researchers conducted a follow-up census in 2023, focusing solely on individuals who permanently live on the streets. Working with staff from the street clinic program, UFJF trained census takers on how to approach respondents, and performed a preliminary territorial survey using georeferenced data provided by the city government. Data collection was completed within four days to avoid people moving out of the survey area before responding. “We identified 384 people living on the streets in the city government census. Our survey found 805 individuals, a 110% increase from 2016 to 2023,” reports Viviane Pereira, a professor of social work at UFJF. Pereira, along with Arbia and psychologist Telmo Mota Ronzani, observed a 30% increase in the homeless population during the pandemic.

In terms of solutions, Pereira highlights the successful policies implemented in Porto, Portugal. The city developed targeted support strategies based on the duration of homelessness. Each case is individually monitored by a case manager who seeks to establish bonds with and understand the specific needs of each individual. “The shorter the time spent on the streets, the higher the likelihood of escaping homelessness. However, the longer someone remains in this condition, the more difficult it becomes to find employment and housing. Over time, other challenges arise, such as the permanent severance of emotional ties and mental health issues,” says Arbia from UFJF.

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