Realistically in Australia, most people experiencing homelessness are hidden from sight. They could be sleeping in a car, couch surfing or enduring the night on public buses. They may have shelter but no permanent place to make a home. These are the “hidden homeless”.
LA County is the nation's most populous, with about 10 million people. More than 1 in 5 of all homeless people in the U.S. live in the county, based on the latest federal tally that found 326,000 homeless people nationwide.
Across Australia, SHS agencies provide services aimed at prevention and early intervention, crisis and post crisis assistance to support people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The agencies receive government funding to deliver accommodation-related and personal services.
Without a fixed address, someone experiencing homelessness is not able to access financial support through Centrelink.
A majority of people experiencing homelessness long-term in Australia are found in the large cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. It is estimated that on any given night approximately 116,000 people will be homeless and many more are living in insecure housing, "one step away from being homeless".
Age. Across both household and shelter types, nearly three-quarters of people experiencing homelessness were adults aged 25 or older (428,859 people), 18% were children under the age of 18 (106,364 children).
Black and Native Americans are more likely to become homeless than other racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. Although Black people comprise 13 percent of the general population and 21.4 percent of those living in poverty, they account for 40 percent of the homeless population.
Over the years, the city of Chicago, Illinois has gained a reputation as the city with the most homeless people, rivaling Los Angeles and New York City, although no statistical data have backed this up.
For thousands of Australians, the risk of losing their home is only one pay slip away. The high cost of rental housing combined with the lack of affordable housing options, particularly for low income earners, can force many families and individuals out of their homes with no place to live.
Older women are the fastest growing group to experience homelessness in Australia. On any given night, around 18,600 people aged 55 and above are homeless. Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people make up eight percent of older people experiencing homelessness.
Homeless people sleep anywhere they can find a place. Whether it is outside under a bridge, in a tent out in the woods, or on a park bench, homeless people are sleeping anywhere they can find. It's not safe, and many homeless people are victims of crimes perpetrated while they are trying to get some rest.
Nigeria is also the country with the biggest homeless population in the world. With a homeless population of 24,400,000 out of 216 million citizens, Nigeria has a homeless rate of 11.3%.
Social isolation and risk of incarceration
Life on the streets can be a demeaning, humiliating and, at times, dehumanizing experience. Clearly, living without material comforts is only one part of the plight. The mental struggle caused by isolation and abuse is often an even more difficult burden to bear.
In our previous article on which country has the lowest rate of homelessness, Japan was determined as the country with the smallest percentage of people experiencing homelessness in the world, with a rate of 0.003%, which is approximately 1 in every 34,000 people.
The lack of secure and stable shelter, food, income, hygiene and physical and behavioral health care makes it nearly impossible to be healthy. The life expectancy of a person experiencing homelessness is just 48 years.
The average age of death for people experiencing homelessness is just 45 for men and 43 for women.
ADDICTION
68% of U.S. cities report that addiction is a their single largest cause of homelessness. * “Housing First” initiatives are well intentioned, but can be short-sighted.
Not all elderly homeless people suffer pronounced physical health conditions. Most people experience the normal effects of aging. Sadly, the effects of aging progress much faster and more severely for homeless people than it does for the general population.
The report gauges that the odds of experiencing homeless in the course of a year are about one in 200 for the general population though the odds vary by economic circumstances. For someone at or below the poverty line, the odds fall to one in 25.
At the same time, the homelessness rate has continued to outpace Australia's rate of population growth. The average monthly number of people using homelessness services increased by 8% to 91,300 over the past four years – double the growth rate of new households.
Domestic and family violence was the most commonly reported main reason that Indigenous people sought assistance from specialist homelessness services (22%), as it was for non-Indigenous clients (21%). Agencies were able to support some Indigenous clients into more stable housing.
Affordable Housing and Social Protection Systems for all to Address Homelessness. This situation is often profoundly worse in low- and middle-income countries like China. It is estimated that 300 million people in the country—home to 1.4 billion Chinese—are homeless.