Couch surfing

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For other uses, see Couch surfing (disambiguation).
"Sofa surfing" redirects here. For other uses, see Sofa surfing (disambiguation).

Couch surfing or sofa surfing is the practice of moving from one friend or relative's house to another, sleeping in whatever spare space is available, floor or couch, and generally staying a few days before moving on to the next house. People sometimes couch-surf when travelling[1] and sometimes because they are homeless.

Homelessness[]

A dependence on couch surfing is a form of homelessness. Couch surfing is usually missed by homeless counts and is therefore a type of . For example, in 2017, HUD counted 114 thousand children as homeless in the United States in their homeless count, while surveys conducted by the Department of Education concluded there was 1.3 million.[2] Couch surfing is especially common among those under the age of 25, including children. In Britain, 1 in 5 young people have couch surfed at least once each year and almost half of those have done so for more than a month.[3]

While safer than sleeping in the rough, couch surfing is not an adequate long term housing solution. Most couch surfers only stay in a single home for a short period of time. This may be because their host limits their stay, they voluntarily leave to preserve friendships, or they are forced to leave the home of a person who is abusive or has a drug problem. Some couch surfers have received housing in exchange for services such as cooking and cleaning. In other cases, people will have otherwise unwanted sexual encounters to be able to couch surf at a person's home for the night. Those who couch surf often sleep in the rough after leaving their accommodations.[4]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Couch surfing around the world". The Daily Telegraph. 30 July 2007.
  2. ^ Dvorak, Petula. "Perspective | The hidden homeless: Not guys sleeping in tents but kids sleeping on buses and floors". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  3. ^ Noblet, Paul (2017-09-27). "A fifth of young people are homeless | Paul Noblet". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  4. ^ Reeve, Kesia (May 2011). "The Hidden Truth about Homelessness" (PDF). Crisis.org.uk. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-03-03. Retrieved March 12, 2021.


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