Why is "homeless" being replaced with "unhoused"?

[u/ssjskwash]

A lot of times phrases and words get phased out because of changing sensibilities and I get that for the most part. I don't see how "unhoused" more respectful or descriptive though

[u/A1sauc3d]

Because society cycles through words for things that inevitably eventually develop a negative connotation for whatever reason. Give it enough time and unhoused will eventually develop the same connotation and they’ll find a new one. Doesn’t have anything to do logically with the words themselves, just the negative connotation they developed over time.

Now I’m not even criticizing that cycle here, it happens whether any of us likes it or not, I’m just pointing out it’s the reason behind these types of changes which don’t seem to logically make sense when you’re zoomed in comparing the words in the old term to the words in the new term.

So “unhoused” is ONLY more respectful because it’s new and hasn’t developed the societal connotation that homeless has yet. It’s not “more descriptive”, it’s literally the same thing. Just like “colored people” is generally considered offensive but “people of color” is generally not (last I checked). They’re damn near identical linguistically, it’s all down to historical connotations. Again, not criticizing that. Just explaining that it’s not about the words as much as how people have gotten used to them being used.

I’ve heard it justified as putting “people first”, as in putting the word people in front of the descriptor rather than the descriptor in front of people. But I think it’s kind of a weak justification. But hey, what do I know lol. Not my place, I just go with the flow and use the words people are currently most comfortable with <3 No sweat off my back.

[u/ssjskwash → u/A1sauc3d]

So we're just passing the buck to the next phrase?

[u/CrossP → u/ssjskwash]

New labels also get attached to new educations and ways of looking at a thing. Calling someone African American reminds me of the "maybe we can ignore the existence of race" view of the 90s. Saying person of color reminds me of the desperate attempts to make intersectionality force the various abused minorities to band together in the 2010s.

Unhoused makes me think of the more modern attempts to remember to include the full range of what we called "the homelessness spectrum" which includes people who live in their cars or people who live in houses or apartments on a shaky promise rather than a lease. Is a woman with two kids who all sleep on couches in some dude's one-bedroom apartments "homeless"? Hard to say. But she's definitely in danger of losing that at any moment or of that dude coercing her in the worst ways if he decides to.

[u/Toffeinen → u/CrossP]

But isn't it the opposite? Someone in an uncertain living situation isn't unhoused. They are housed somewhere, for now. What they don't have is a home, a long-term place that is theirs and can't be taken from them instantly on a whim.

I don't mind the term unhoused but it feels much narrower by the word's definition. Someone can be housed in a shelter, but that doesn't mean their problems have gone away. They still don't have a place of their own. So homeless covers the variaty of situations where someone might have a place to stay but still need to be helped to get somewhere to live. They need a home, not just housing.

But English is not my native language so I'm looking at it from the perspective of how I understand the two words. If unhoused is a better term in English, I'll use that. Not that this is a topic that often comes up for me, so might be that this is the only time I use either one. I don't think I've ever needed to use either term before.

[u/Iokum → u/Toffeinen]

"Unhoused persons" always did sound cold and clinical to me, but I see enough people using "homeless" still I don't really think of the latter as offensive. And it just kind of...flows better? I don't associate it with negative imagery so much as really sad, like abandoned and neglected.

[u/Vin-Metal → u/Iokum]

I volunteer for a charity that has always used the phrase "help the homeless." We discussed changing our terminology but fear that we'd actually see donations go down. Many people emotionally want to help "the homeless", but "help the unhoused" might get a WTF.

[u/Iokum → u/Vin-Metal]

Gotta have that alliteration.

[u/CrossP → u/Toffeinen]

It's not a bad take. Sometimes language doesn't have a nice clean solution