The Economic Consequences of Homelessness in The US

Progress on Preventing and Ending
Homelessness
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development and other federal agencies
collaborate with state and local partners to
prevent and end homelessness across the country.
This coordinated effort to end homelessness
continues to be a key to making progress to
preventing and ending homelessness.
GOAL
Prevent and end chronic
homelessness
• The number of individuals experiencing
chronic homelessness declined by 18 percent,
or over 19,000 people, between 2010 and 2017.
• Just under 87,000 individuals experiencing
homelessness on a particular night in
January 2017 had chronic patterns of
homelessness. Nearly seven in ten
individuals experiencing chronic
homelessness were staying outdoors, in
abandoned buildings, or other locations
not suitable for human habitation rather than
staying in shelters, reflecting the high
degree of vulnerability of this population.
• In 2017, there were nearly 94,000 more
permanent supportive housing (PSH) beds
dedicated to people with chronic patterns of
homelessness than there were in 2010.
GOAL
Prevent and end homelessness
among Veterans
• Between 2010 and 2017, the number of
veterans experiencing homelessness was cut
nearly in half. Veteran homelessness has
dropped by 46 percent, or by more than 34,000
people since 2010.
• On a single night in January 2017, just more
than 40,000 veterans were experiencing
homelessness. A majority (62%) were staying
in emergency shelters or transitional housing
programs.
GOAL
Prevent and end homelessness for
families, youth, and children
• In January 2017, about 185,000 people in
families with children experienced
homelessness, about 57,000 fewer people than
in 2010, a 24 percent decline.
• Just fewer than 22,000 people were in families
with children in which the head of household
was under the age of 25
• More than 40,000 people under the age of 25
were unaccompanied youth—that is, homeless
on their own rather than as part of a family.
About 36,000 youth between the ages
of 18 and 24 were homeless by themselves, as
were about 4,800 youth under the age of 18.
GOAL
Set a path to ending all types of
homelessness
• In January 2017, almost 554,000 people were
homeless on a single night, with nearly
two-thirds (65%) found in emergency shelters
or transitional housing programs.
• While the number of people experiencing
homelessness increased by just under one
percent between 2016 and 2017, homelessness
has declined by more than 83,000 people since
2010, a 13 percent reduction. The recent
increase in homelessness is attributable to an
increase in the number of individuals staying
in unsheltered locations in major cities.
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