Researchers at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy have conducted a study on homelessness in Singapore. In addition to a street count of homeless people in Singapore, the study also involved in-depth interviews with homeless individuals who stayed at a shelter.

The study has identified two new groups of homeless people during the Covid-19 pandemic. The first group (i.e., “Newly homeless”) consists of homeless people who had not slept on the streets before the pandemic. This group includes people who lost their jobs during the pandemic and could not afford to rent a place on the open market. The second group (i.e., “Transnational homeless”) comprises mainly Singaporean males who live in Indonesia or Malaysia and used to commute to Singapore for work. Due to border control and travel restrictions during the pandemic, they could not travel back home and thus sleep on the streets in Singapore.

The study also identified a third group of people who have been homeless before the pandemic (i.e., “Long-term homeless”). These homeless individuals live in “extreme poverty” and some of them have been on the streets for many years.

The researchers reported common issues that these three groups of homeless people might face, such as having low-wage and insecure jobs, poor health conditions, family conflict, and estrangement.