Homelessness report

According to a new report carried out by homelessness charity Nadeje, the majority of homeless people in the Czech Republic are in their forty’s, have little or no education, are either single or divorced and have no children.

The charity, who’s name means “hope”, interviewed 4,600 of the people it reaches out to in order to produce the report, called The Path to the Bottom. This is the most in-depth study of homelessness ever to have been carried out in the country.

“Singles men frequently end up living on the street. Their journey to the bottom starts as soon as they no longer have a woman to look after them,” explains Libor Prudky, one of the authors of the report.

But men are not the only ones at risk, points out the director of the charity Ilja Hradecky, who highlights that there are people as old as 90, mothers and their children, and under-25s all living in the streets as well. “In 1990 there were practically no women visiting our centre,” she says, “two years ago the number of homeless women had risen to 17 per cent of the total”.

The report is an opportunity for ‘Hope’ to call attention to the growing problem of homelessness in the country. “We are working with people who certainly have some degree of responsibility for being where they are but should be outcasted from society. They have ended up in a situation that they are incapable of solving on their own, and that’s where we step in,” says Libor Prudky. Prague is no longer the only place affected by homelessness and, says the charity, the government should act fast before the problem gets any worse.

www.nadeje.cz