Older Homeless People in Singapore: An Ethnographic Study

The increased visibility and number of older people sleeping rough in Singapore have led to a contentious debate about whether homelessness is caused by personal problems or government policies and bureaucracy. Amid such one-sided explanations, scholarly research about homelessness in Singapore remains underdeveloped. This thesis is an ethnographic study of how older people (aged 50 years and above) became homeless, and experienced and exited homelessness in Singapore. Through the voices of older homeless people, it shows that homelessness is better understood as a process involving both people’s personal decisions as well as their broader external circumstances.