Journal of Sociology

This article has two aims. First, from all the diversity and complexity of homeless people’s lives, we identify five ideal typical pathways into adult homelessness, using a modified version of the analytical scheme proposed by Johnson (2006).

This article uses information from a large administrative database (N = 3941) to outline five ideal typical pathways into adult homelessness. The pathways are called ‘housing crisis’, ‘family breakdown’, ‘substance abuse’, ‘mental health’ and ‘youth to adult’. Then we explain why people on some pathways remain homeless for longer than others.