Brittney's+Statistics

Accurate and comprehensive statistics are difficult to aquire mainly because most homeless people are mobile and often hidden. The last attempt at estimating annual homeless prevalence in the United States was undertaken by the 1996 National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients. As many as 3.5 million people experience homelessness in a given year of the entire year. 40% of homeless people are families with children and families with children are the fastest growing segment of homeless people. 41% are single males, 14% are single females, and 5% are minors unaccompanied by adults. 1.37 million of the total homeless population are children under the age of 18.

Not only are the statistics broken down by gender and age, its also broken down by ethnicity. 49% are African American, 35% are Caucasian, 13% are Hispanic, 2% are Native American, and 1% are Asian-American.

There are also many different reasons why homeless people become homeless. Some are veterens, physically or sexually abused as children, were in foster care or similar institutions as children, were homeless at some point as a child, and/or incarcerated at some point during their lives. Veterens: 23% physically or sexually abused: 25% Foster Care or similar institution: 27% Homeless at some point: 21% Incarcerated: 54%

Homeless people already have to struggle in order to find a place to sleep, but they also have to worry about their health problems. Homeless people are not all healthy, and because they are homeless, its hard to get cured. Some of their health concerns range from pneumonia to cancer. Mental Illness/disabled: 22% Substance Abuse Problems: 30% HIV/AIDS: 3% Acute Health Problems other than HIV/AIDS (Tuberculosis, pneumonia, STD's): 26% Chronic Health Conditions (High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Cancer): 46% No Health Insurance: 55% Not Having Enough To Eat: 58%