Unprecedented Rise in Homelessness
Happy Tuesday, and welcome to another edition of Rent Free.
This week’s newsletter closes out the year by looking at the latest homelessness census released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which found a staggering increase in the number of people living on the streets or in shelters.
Number of People Without a Roof Over Their Head Goes Through the Roof
This past Friday, HUD released the results of its Point-in-Time (PIT) count—an annual census of the homeless population conducted each January by local homeless service providers.
The 2024 numbers are not pretty. According to the HUD survey, 771,480 people were homeless in January 2024. Of those, 497,256 were “sheltered” homeless, meaning they were sleeping in an emergency shelter or transitional housing. Another 274,224 people were “unsheltered” homeless who slept outside, in vehicles, abandoned buildings, or other areas not fit for human habitation.
The top-line figure represents a remarkable 18 percent increase in the country’s homeless population. That increase is even more shocking when one considers that the country’s homeless population grew by 19 percent between 2007 and 2024. Near two decades’ worth of growth in the homeless population occurred between 2023 and 2024.
A year-over-year comparison pic.twitter.com/eKA2YrkFlV
— Christian Britschgi (@christianbrits) December 30, 2024
That top-line figure obviously masks a lot of yearly ups and downs. Nevertheless, the numbers are moving decidedly in the wrong direction, and fast.
Breaking Down the Numbers
The huge rise in the homeless population is attributable to related increases in the sheltered homeless population and the number of homeless families.
Of the 118,376 additional homeless people counted in 2024, 100,762 (or 85 percent of the total) were sheltered. This represents a 25 percent annual increase.
The 2024 PIT found that the unsheltered population grew by 17,614, which represents a 7 percent increase. That significant, albeit less severe, increase is effectively a continuation of the steady pre-pandemic rise in the unsheltered homeless population.
Conversely, the sheltered homeless population boom is both a huge increase and a reversal of the trend line. The sheltered homeless population had been on a steady decline in the years before the pandemic. Shelter populations plummeted even more during COVID-19 as shelters slashed capacity as a social distancing measure. This fall was significant enough to push down the overall homeless population, even as the unsheltered homeless population was rising.
Similarly, the 2024 PIT count found a record 39 percent annual increase in homeless families with children. The population of homeless individuals grew by a more modest 9.6 percent. The veteran homeless population was the only group to see a decline, dropping by 7.6 percent.
Migrant Surge, Homeless Surge
The HUD report notes that 13 Continuum of Care (COC) organizations (the local federally funded groups that provide homeless services and perform the PIT) saw a large influx of migrants into the
Article from Reason.com
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