December 12, 2017

Homelessness grew slightly in 2017

Center on Budget & Policy Priorities - The sobering findings of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s latest annual count of homeless people — that homelessness remains a persistent problem and some communities are losing ground — show that federal policymakers have much to do to help address this serious problem.

The headline finding is that roughly 550,000 people were homeless on a single night in January 2017, several thousand more than in the January 2016 count. One must be cautious in interpreting year-over-year changes in this single-night census, since weather and other factors can distort results. More interesting are what the data show about longer-term trends, as well as demographic and geographic changes. Two main points jump out:

Homelessness remains stubbornly persistent. The homeless count has fallen by 13 percent from its 2010 peak, despite the uptick in 2017. But the 2010 peak followed one of the deepest recessions in U.S. history, and the 2017 count took place after eight straight years of economic growth and at a time of low unemployment. The most striking long-term trend is homelessness’ stubborn persistence amid a growing economy.

Some communities are losing ground, despite the extended economic recovery. While the number of homeless people has fallen since the recession, metropolitan areas with tight housing markets and rising rents — particularly in California and other coastal states — have recently seen significant increases in street homelessness.

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