A depressing report from Homeless Link explains that homeless people are particularly likely to suffer from sanctions and penalties. The numbers are iffy, but the trend seems clear – sanctions are applied disproportionately for young people with problems in mental health or substance abuse.
“While the intention of sanctions is to incentivise claimants into work, our research shows that this is not happening for homeless people. Instead, sanctions are effectively punishing vulnerable people – who are trying to engage with finding work – for making mistakes.”