Homelessness in America is difficult to measure, since a number of people do not readily self identify. Through the years, I've known a number of people who've squatted vacant buildings, lived on someone's couch or consensually in an outbuilding on their property, lived out of their van or in other forms of temporary housing that do ot qualify as a "fixed address". So when we're taking about homelessness, it is almost self defeating to use a number, as even the best estimates would be just an educated guess and draw heavily on empirical evidence.
But there are some numbers that have been gathered from the known homeless in America. At first glance, some of these numbers might reinforce some of the stereotypes we have of homeless (eg, the percentage of homeless men in shelters, the number of mentally ill, etc). But take a hard look at the numbers and a different picture emerges. When you look at shelters, only 4% of the residents are families; but when you look at transitional housing, the number leaps to 56%. This is almost certainly because of the priority given to families (and rightly so) for the health and safety of minors in their care.
At this point, I feel it almost necessary to put in a plug for the National Coalition for the Homeless. They've done a lot of great work in advocating for the rights of homeless, and collecting information. Most of the information below comes directly or indirectly from their site at http://www.nationalhomeless.org/ . Direct quotations are noted. Please take a look at the facts below and boil them down for yourself:
"On an average night in the 23 cities surveyed, 94 percent of people living on the streets were single adults, 4 percent were part of families and 2 percent were unaccompanied minors. Seventy percent of those in emergency shelters were single adults, 29 percent were part of families and 1 percent were unaccompanied minors. Of those in transitional housing, 43 percent were single adults, 56 percent were part of families, and 1 percent were unaccompanied minors. Those who occupied permanent supportive housing were 60 percent single adults, 39.5 percent were part of families, and .5 percent were unaccompanied minors (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2008)."
(National Coalition for the Homeless, http://www.nationalhomeless.org/)
40% are families with children—the fastest growing segment.
41% are single males.
14% are single females.
5% are minors unaccompanied by adults.
1.37 million (or 39%) of the total homeless population are children under the age of 18.
49% are African American (over-represented compared to 11% of general population).
35% are Caucasian (under-represented compared to 75% of general population).
13% are Hispanic (compared to 10% of general population).
2% are Native American (compared to 1% of general population).
1% are Asian-American (under-represented compared to 4% of general population)
22% are considered to have serious mental illnesses, or are disabled.
30% have substance abuse problems.
3% report having HIV/AIDS.
26% report acute health problems other than HIV/AIDS such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, or sexually transmitted infections.
46% report chronic health conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or cancer.
55% report having no health insurance (compared to 27% of general population).
58% report having trouble getting enough food to eat.
23% are veterans (compared to 13% of general population).
25% were physically or sexually abused as children.
27% were in foster care or similar institutions as children.
21% were homeless at some point during their childhood.
54% were incarcerated at some point in their lives
38% have less than a High School diploma.
34% have a High School diploma or equivalent (G.E.D.).
28% have more than a High School education.
44% report having worked in the past week.
13% have regular jobs.
50% receive less than $300 per month as income.
70% work on street corners, pan-handling or prostituting themselves
71% reside in central cities.
21% are in suburbs.
9% are in rural areas.
80% of those who experience homelessness do so for less than 3 weeks. They typically have more personal, social, or economic resources to draw upon.
10% are homeless for up to two months. They cite lack of available or affordable housing as responsible for the delay.
10% are so called "chronic" and remain without housing for extended periods of time on a frequent basis. They typically struggle with mental illness, substance abuse, or both.
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