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The homeless population is made up of: Single men 44 percent of the homeless, single women 13 percent, families with children 36 percent, and unaccompanied minors seven percent (7%).
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Single homeless individuals in 1996 reported an average income of $348 during the last 30 days, about 51 percent of the 1996 federal poverty level of $680/month for one person.
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28% of adults said they sometimes or often do not get enough to eat, compared with 12% of poor American adults.
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44 percent did paid work during the past month.
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66 percent of the homeless have problems with alcohol, drug abuse, or mental illness.
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7 percent have been sexually assaulted.
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30 percent have been homeless for more than two years.
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3.5 million people (1.35 million of which are children) will experience homelessness in a given year
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Children under the age of 18 account for 39% of the homeless population. 42% of these are under the age of 5
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43% of the homeless population are women
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40% of homeless women are unaccompanied / have no partner
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25% of homeless women claim to have been abused within the past year.
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22% of homeless women claim domestic abuse as reason for their homelessness
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Families with children comprise 33% of the homeless population.
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1 in every 5 homeless persons has a severe or persistent mental illness.
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Vets constitute 40% of the homeless population.
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25% of the homeless nationwide are employed
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One in five people in a soup kitchen line is a child.
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In 1999, approximately 12 million American children were hungry or at risk of hunger.
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Nearly 1 in 5 children (more than 12 million) in the U.S. live in poverty (U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, October 2000 Update). The U.S. child poverty rate is higher than that of most other industrialized nations.
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In 1999, more than half of all food stamp recipients, 9.3 million people were children.
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Nearly 9 million children in the U.S. live in working poor families.
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In its 1998 survey of 30 cities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that the homeless population was 49% African-American, 32% Caucasian, 12% Hispanic, 4% Native American, and 3% Asian.
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One in seven (1 out of 7) homeless people previously served in the military (are veterans).
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