Individual factors, such as low educational attainment, whether someone is working, experience of family and domestic violence, ill health (including mental health issues) and disability, trauma, and substance misuse may make a person more at risk of becoming homeless (Fitzpatrick et al.
Factors such as domestic violence, relationship breakdown, financial difficulty and limited superannuation can make people more vulnerable to homelessness. Certain groups may be at a higher risk of homelessness, such as veterans, Indigenous people and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
A person may be at risk of homelessness if they are experiencing one or more of a range of factors or triggers that can contribute to homelessness. Risk factors include: Financial stress (including due to loss of income, low income, gambling, change of family circumstances).
While families, children, and youth are all affected, most of the people who experience homelessness are single adults. Who Experiences Homelessness?
These estimates indicate that approximately one in 10 adults ages 18 to 25, and one in 30 youth ages 13 to 17 will experience homelessness each year. This is likely an undercount due to varying definitions of homelessness and challenges with contacting unhoused people, particularly unhoused youth.
Of the 122,494 people experiencing homelessness in 2021: 25,504 (20.8%) were aged from 25 to 34 years. 17,646 (14.4%) were aged under 12 years. 17,085 (13.9%) were aged from 35 to 44 years.
People age 65 and older represent the fastest growing group of homeless. 'We've had people in their late 80s, early 90s who are living in their car. '
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. A formerly homeless addict is likely to return to homelessness unless they deal with the addiction.
California, New York and Florida have the largest homeless populations. Across the three heavily populated states, more than 270,000 people are homeless — nearly half of the U.S. homeless population.
Transitional Homelessness
While it's true in some cases, in reality, the most common type of homelessness is transitional. Transitional homelessness is “a state of homelessness that's a result of a major life change or catastrophic event”.
There are no internationally agreed upon definitions of homelessness, making it difficult to compare levels of homelessness across countries. A majority of people experiencing homelessness long-term in Australia are found in the large cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.
There are many reasons why young people experience homelessness. Family/relationship breakdowns, mental health issues, drug and alcohol addiction, housing crisis, inadequate or inappropriate living conditions, and insufficient income are just some of the factors that can lead young people into homelessness.
While vagrancy is no longer illegal in Australia, the related practice of begging is still a crime in most Australian jurisdictions.
Causes of homelessness
Domestic violence is the single biggest cause of homelessness in Australia. What this means is that homelessness is a product of many other human rights abuses.
Homelessness can be caused by:
Family violence. A shortage of affordable housing. Physical and/or mental health issues.
People become homeless for lots of different reasons. There are social causes of homelessness, such as a lack of affordable housing, poverty and unemployment; and life events which push people into homelessness. People are forced into homelessness when they leave prison, care or the army with no home to go to.
It is estimated that 150 million people are homeless worldwide. Habitat for Humanity estimated in 2016 that 1.6 billion people around the world live in "inadequate shelter". Different countries often use different definitions of homelessness.
Homelessness occurs because many people cannot afford housing, do not have a job, receive low income, are mentally ill or have a drug addiction (Coalition for the Homeless). Homelessness affects society in a variety of ways making it a social issue.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows homelessness is surging. New figures show nearly 123,000 people were without a home on Census night 2021 - around 6,000 more than at the previous count in 2016. It represents a 5.2 per cent lift in homelessness over five years.
What is Australia's homeless population? On Census night in 2021, statistics show 122,494 people were estimated to be experiencing homelessness. That's an increase of 5.2 per cent since the 2016 Census.
“We can end homelessness for women, children, young people and Indigenous Australians, and dramatically reduce the number of people returning to homelessness services. “Building more social housing, investing in affordable rentals, lifting JobSeeker and raising Commonwealth Rent Assistance are critical to this plan.
People experiencing homelessness
On Census night in 2016, more than 116,000 people were estimated to be homeless in Australia—58% were male, 21% were aged 25–34 and 20% identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians (ABS 2018).
The median age of the homeless increased from 37 to 46 over the study waves, at a rate of 0.66 years per calendar year (P < 0.01). The median total time homeless increased from 12 to 39.5 months (P < 0.01). Emergency department visits, hospital admissions, and chronic health conditions increased.