Life course perspective and female homelessness in Portugal

Abstract

This article addresses the current limitations on the knowledge about homelessness, particularly about women experiencing homelessness in the Portuguese context. It is argued that the life course perspective is a useful tool to guide comprehensive analyses of homelessness, namely those that focus on its causal mechanisms. This argument is based on a literature review about this topic and reinforced through the presentation and discussion of two life histories of women experiencing homelessness which derive from an ongoing research project. The practical implications of applying a life course perspective to the study of homelessness are discussed later on.