Abstract:
In public policy planning and budgeting, the health issues and homeless issues tend to be in-terrelated and reinforced by each other, but this mutual causality is usually ignored in the ex-isting literature. This paper provides an unbiased estimate of a structural equation model taking endogeneity into account. A questionnaire is designed based on the health-related quality of life (EQ-5D) framework and is given to 322 homeless individuals. Evidence shows that, with-out timely support, the homeless state and health state will fast deteriorate and reinforce each other. It is therefore arguable to broaden the definition of statutory homelessness, and the "pre-ventative approach" can save, rather than increase, the public resources spent on the homeless.
