TABLE 2 ABOUT HERE
In both instances, some additional institutional support was often available.
However, this type of accommodation was less common for care leavers in this
study, who more often were living in ‘autonomous’ accommodation - tenancies
where they could shut their own front door, had privacy and responsibility for the
upkeep and finances of their home. Half of the care leaver sample was in this
situation.
Differences between the accommodation type of care leavers and young
people in difficulty at the time of interview could be attributed to the ways each
group was sampled. Young people in difficulty were recruited from housing
projects and young people’s advice or day centres, which may explain the higher
number living in this kind of supported accommodation. Differences in
accommodation between the two groups could also be attributed to the age and
gender of the young people. For instance, older young people in difficulty were
more likely than care leavers to be living at the time of interview in supported
accommodation and the young people in difficulty were on average slightly older
than the care leavers. Females were also more likely than males to be living in
social tenancy accommodation, especially if they were care leavers (24/33
female care leavers were living in social tenancy accommodation). In addition,
males (especially those in difficulty) were more likely than females to be living in
housing projects or other people’s places.
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