This chapter uses the findings from the research to evaluate the government's approach to supporting young people who are living independently, examining both the broad direction of policy and specific measures. It also identifies the implications for other social landlords of the evaluation of the services provided by Newcastle City Council and examines the steps that the local authority has taken to adjust services as a result of the research findings.

As the research was undertaken in one specific case study authority, it is necessary to consider how far the findings can be generalised to other areas. There are distinctive social and economic conditions present in Newcastle: most notably that rented housing is relatively easy for young people to find, but there are particular difficulties in obtaining well-paid employment. It is acknowledged that local authorities, and other organisations with responsibility for rehousing young people, may be operating in a very different context to the one in Newcastle. However, many of the key findings – such as the danger of overconfidence about independent living – seem applicable to any social and economic context.

Social exclusion

Considering first the broad direction of central government policy, the findings suggest that social exclusion is a helpful concept for understanding youth homelessness and the difficulties that many young people experience in independent living. Although the government has been criticised for failing to provide a precise definition of social exclusion, the data demonstrated that the needs of the sample were indeed very wide ranging and went well beyond their original lack of housing. Comparisons between the research data and information that is available about other people of the same age showed that the sample were more likely:

• • to have left school without achieving any GCSEs;

• • to have truanted from school;

• • to smoke; and

• • to have been in trouble with the police.

Further support for the view expressed by the Social Exclusion Unit (2001a, p 10) that social problems tend to be linked, and mutually reinforcing, was provided by the evidence of multiple difficulties experienced by some members of the sample, for example:

• • Respondents who were taking drugs at the time of the first interview were more likely than others to have achieved no GCSEs, to have truanted from school, to have been in trouble with the police, to be in debt and to find that their relationship with their parents deteriorated with time.