One in 30 US children homeless as rates rise in 31 states, report finds

One in 30 American children are homeless, according to a new state-by-state report that finds racial disparities, increasing poverty and domestic violence responsible for the historic high.

According to the report released yesterday by the National Centre on Family Homelessness, child homelessness increased in 31 states and the District of Columbia. Nearly 2.5 million children experienced homelessness in the US in 2013, an 8 per cent rise nationally from 2012.

California and states in the south and southwest ranked particularly poorly in an analysis of homelessness, state responses and associated factors. According to the report, California has more than 500,000 homeless children, a high cost of living and only 11,316 housing units for homeless families; only Alabama and Mississippi, with chronically bad poverty rates, ranked worse.

“Child homelessness has reached epidemic proportions in America,” Carmela DeCandia, director of the centre, said. “Living in shelters, neighbours’ basements, cars, campgrounds and worse – homeless children are the most invisible and neglected individuals in our society.” Factors that cause the high rates of child homelessness included high rates of family poverty, particularly in houses headed by single women who are black or Hispanic; a dearth of affordable housing for low-income families; fallout from the recession economy, such as foreclosures and debt; long-lasting effects of trauma; and institutional racism resulting in economic segregation.

– (Guardian service)