Sleeping Rough

No matter what country we are in, we pass them every day, outside supermarkets, beneath overpasses, in laneways and alleys, huddled in doorways, or sleeping on public transportation. Some people look away. Some drop coins in their cups or baskets. But how many of us stop to ask: Why are so many people living on the streets in rich cities and countries? This post isn't about blame; it's about understanding and developing creative ideas for positive change.

While living in San Francisco, I learned that President Ronald Reagan's policies contributed to the mental health crisis and the homelessness in America. In the early 1980s, under Reagan, the U.S. government accelerated a policy known as deinstitutionalising, the process of closing large state-run pyschiatric hospitals. Mental health care was shifted into local communities. This idea began under Presidents Kennedy and Carter with bipartisan support, but it was under Reagan that the system collapsed, primarily because the support he promised to replace institutional care never materialised. Here are some key actions under the Reagan administration:

• 1981: Reagan signed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, which slashed federal funding for mental health services by 25% and shifted responsibility to the states through block grants, with no federal oversight.

• The act repealed the Mental Health Systems Act of 1980, signed by President Carter, which had expanded community mental health services.

• Thousands of patients were released from mental institutions, but states didn't have the resources to care for them.

• Many individuals with serious mental illnesses were discharged into communities with no treatment, housing, or follow-up.

• Without access to psychiatric care, many ended up living on the streets, in jail, or cycling through emergency rooms.

By the mid 1980s, homelessness or rough sleeping began rising dramatically, particularly in major U.S. cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York where housing costs were also beginning to surge. In the United States over half a million people are without homes on any given night and nearly one-third of them are families with children. In other countries there were similar increases in rough sleepers around the same time for some overlapping reasons.

• United Kingdom (1980s) - Thatcher Era

  • Margaret Thatcher's government also pursued aggressive cuts to social housing and mental health services.

  • The number of people experiencing homelessness in the UK rose sharply, especially among youth and single adults.

  • The closure of long-stay psychiatric hospitals mirrored the U.S. trend again, without proper community care replacements.

• Canada

  • Canada also saw deinstitutionalisation of mental health patients in the 1970s and 1980s.

  • Combined with rising housing costs and reductions in federal funding for affordable housing, rough sleepers surged, particularly in Toronto and Vancouver.

• Australia

  • Similar trends occurred in Australia, where federal and state governments began closing mental health institutions in the 1980s and 1990s.

  • The transition community-based mental health care was uneven, underfunded, and left many people without stable housing.

  • Housing affordability also became a growing issue in major urban areas.

• China

  • China does not publicly release detailed national data on homelessness, and the term homeless is narrowly defined. Many who are housing insecure or living in extremely substandard conditions may not be counted.

  • Estimates suggest over 2 million people live without stable housing in China, but this number is debated.

  • Millions of rural migrants move to cities for work, often without formal residency permits. Many live in crowded dorms, makeshift shelters, or sleep rough, particularly if they lose work or face eviction.

  • The mentally ill and elderly are often abandoned by families or have no access to services, especially in large urban centres.

  • Some street children are orphans, often are trafficked, or runaways from abusive or impoverished homes.

  • Often, individuals without homes are often swept off streets, especially before major events or holidays. There are fewer social services or public shelters compared to Western countries.

• Indonesia

  • Indonesia does not have comprehensive national statistics on rough sleepers, but estimates suggest tens of thousands live without stable shelter, primarily in major cities like Jakarta, Surabaya, Bali, and Medan.

  • A 2022 estimate from local non-government organisations (NGOs) placed the rough sleeping population in Jakarta at over 28,000.

  • Many urban poor people live in informal settlements, slums, or riverbank communities with no secure land rights, often evicted or bulldozed.

  • A visible population, many are orphans or children of the urban poor, surviving through begging or informal labour.

  • Those without family support or evicted due to development or disasters (like floods), often end up on the streets. They include the elderly and displaced families.

  • Many Balinese people work in the informal economy (tourism, hospitality, street vending). When tourism crashed during the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands lost jobs and incomes overnight. Some returned to their villages, while others started squatting in abandoned buildings or sleeping rough in urban areas in Denpasar and Kuta.

  • Some children from impoverished families work or beg on the streets, especially in tourist areas. They often live in extremely precarious or unsafe conditions.

  • In Bali's traditional culture, family plays a huge role in caring for their elders. However, when those support systems fail, due to migration, poverty, or estrangement, some older adults are left without shelter or basic care.

  • There is little official data on sleeping rough in Bali. Many people live in hidden rough sleeping areas, not on sidewalks, but in unsafe, temporary, or overcrowded housing facilities. Many live in abandoned buildings, in makeshift huts or bamboo shelters, under bridges, or temporary roadside stalls that double as sleeping areas.

Living without a home is one of the most misunderstood social issues of our time, and sadly, the myths surrounding it are as persistent as they are harmful. These myths serve as emotional distance making it easier to look away, to shrug, or to blame. Several years ago, I worked for an organisation in Melbourne, Australia who strongly believed that all people living on the streets were drug addicts and Black. Regardless how I tried to convince the CEO that he was wrong, he refused to accept the facts, leading me to resign from the organisation. Many unhoused people do work, but wages haven't kept up with the cost of rent. Others are physically or mentally unable to work, often without access to disability services or stable medical care. In reality, no one dreams of sleeping in a tent under a freeway. It's often the last available option after exhausting every friend, family member, and shelter. For many, living outside is less dangerous than the abuse, trauma, or conditions they fled.

After talking to many of those surviving on the streets, I learned that substance use does affect some people, but it's often a symptom that rough sleepers face. Many shared with me that they turned to substances as a way of coping with trauma, cold nights, and despair. Many people with mental illness fall through the cracks of our healthcare and housing systems. After the mass deinstitutionalisation of psychiatric hosptals in the 1980s, many people were released with nowhere to go, and the promised community-based care never appeared. Without accessible treatment, many live without the support they need. Often, addiction to drugs or alcohol develops after a person is already homeless or sleeping rough, but not before. The streets are harsh. Trauma is constant. For some, drugs offer the only numbing relief available.

Many women and LGBTQ+ youth flee abuse at home and find themselves with nowhere to go. Domestic violence is one of the leading causes of homelessness for women. LGBTQ+ youth, especially transgender youth, are overrepresented in homeless populations due to family rejection.

There are many barriers to re-entry. Once someone becomes homeless, getting out is incredibly difficult. They may lose their identification, have no address to list on job applications, no place to store their belongings, and limited access to hygiene. This all makes employment or housing applications almost impossible. Let's be honest, sleeping rough or homelessness doesn't just reflect individual struggles. It reflects a society that prioritises profits over people. When we disinvest in mental health, public housing, and social safety nets, we are not just saving money, we are pushing people onto the streets.

We have been conditioned to look at homelessness or rough sleeping as a personal failure, the result of laziness, addiction, or bad decisions. It's easier that way because we can assign blame rather than face the complex, uncomfortable truth. Some of the most common stereotypes about this community include:

• They are just lazy.

• They want to be homeless.

• It's all drugs and bad choices.

Is there anything that we can do to help? Yes, we can volunteer, donate, or advocate for housing first solutions with our governments. We should speak out against dehumanising policies, and start seeing each person, not just the problem. It's time to start seeing people differently. The next time you pass someone on the street, remember, you are not looking at a problem. You are looking at a person. Behind every person is a story that deserves to be heard, not judged. We can all do something, even doing something small, can be radical. We can make a major difference by supporting policy changes by voting for leaders and ballot measures that prioritise housing and human dignity.