Couch surfing on the margins: The reliance on temporary living arrangements as a form of homelessness amongst school-aged home leavers

This paper examines couch surfing as a form of youth homelessness. The focus is on adolescents who do not have support from parental homes and who frequently move from one temporary living arrangement to another, without a secure ‘place to be’. Drawing on the findings of sociological research with a group of young couch surfers in Australia, the aim is to unpack the marginalising social processes that produce this practice as an outcome of early home leaving. Contrary to the view that adolescent couch surfers are managing their living situations for the time being, this research suggests that couch surfing is in itself an experience and product of dislocation, which (re)inscribes disadvantage. Reflecting on the interview accounts, the paper first shows how the reliance on informal living arrangements is one way in which young people are contending with the risks of early home leaving ‘for themselves’ – in lieu of preferable alternatives from formalised welfare systems. Second, in bringing attention to the tenuousness attached to their reliance on informal living arrangements, this paper shows how couch surfing emerges as a form of homelessness without ‘rooflessness’: a situation in which young people's attempts to gain ontological security are consistently undermined. The findings of this research broaden our understanding of the social and political inequalities limiting young people's resources for negotiating adult life.