Photo courtesy: Pedrosimoes7

There has been a 37% rise in the number of people sleeping rough on the streets in England since the Coalition came into power, according to new government figures.

The news has triggered headlines condemning the data as evidence that benefit cuts are hitting the poorest and most-vulnerable in society hardest.

But what none of the articles mention is that nearly all of those who sleep rough are men. According to the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN), in London just under 90% of rough sleepers are male.

The gendered nature of this social exclusion is not mentioned once in any of the reports from the Independent, The Mirror, The Huffington Post, or in the original government release itself.

What’s even more bizarre is that the reports go into extensive detail about a whole range of other demographic data.

Two glaring questions…

There are breakdowns of everything from the nationalities of people on the streets, to regional variations in the prevalence of rough sleeping, to the local agencies that went out onto the streets and made the head counts.

Neither is it as if it’s hard to find out estimates of what proportion of rough sleepers are men – a cursory Google search of data published by homelessness charities will do it.

One of them – CHAIN – is even linked to in the government release that’s the source of the news reports.

At least two questions spring to mind.

Why was the stark gender breakdown of these statistics considered unworthy of mention?

And what is it about our society and public services that seem to be so disproportionately failing these men?

What do you think the answers are?

Please post a comment or send us a tweet @yearofthemale to tell us your thoughts.