When families with young children are evicted from their homes

In recent years, the number of evictions and bailiff cases in Denmark has risen drastically. Such cases do not only afflict adults; just under one in four of all households being evicted are families with young children. Around 11,500 children are estimated to have been affected by an eviction between 2002 and 2009.
The purpose of this report is to elucidate what bailiff cases and eviction mean for the lives, housing conditions and well-being of parents and children. The report is based on quantitative data about eviction as well as qualitative interviews with children, young people and parents. The most important characteristics of the evicted families are described, and the families’ experience of the time during and after the eviction is illustrated.
The report shows that the evicted families are generally socially and financially vulnerable. The families often live under precarious housing conditions for long periods after the eviction, and this has negative impacts on the children’s everyday lives and well-being.
The study has been completed with funding from the Egmont Foundation.