Homeless Families with Children

Published by the National Coalition for the Homeless, May 1998

Homelessness is a devastating experience for families. It disrupts virtually every aspect of family life, damaging the physical and emotional health of family members, interfering with children's education and development, and frequently resulting in the separation of family members. The dimensions, causes, and consequences of family homelessness are discussed below. An overview of policy issues and a list of resources for further study are also provided.

DIMENSIONS

The fastest growing segment of the homeless population is families with children. Families with children constitute approximately 40% of people who become homeless, while on any given night, an estimated 20% of the homeless population are families (Shinn and Weitzman, 1996). A survey of 29 U.S. cities found that in 1997, children accounted for 25% of the homeless population (Waxman and Hinderliter, 1997). These proportions are likely to be higher in rural areas; research indicates that families, single mothers, and children make up the largest group of people who are homeless in rural areas (Vissing, 1996).

Recent evidence confirms that homelessness among families is increasing. Requests for emergency shelter by families with children in 29 U.S. cities increased by an average of 5% between 1996-1997 (Waxman and Hinderliter, 1997). The same study found that 32% of requests for shelter by homeless families were denied in 1997 due to lack of resources. Moreover, 92% of the cities surveyed expected an increase in the number of requests for emergency shelter by families with children in 1998.

CAUSES

Poverty and the lack of affordable housing are the principal causes of family homelessness. The number of poor people increased 41% between 1979 and 1990; families and children under 18 accounted for more than half of that increase (U.S. House of Representatives, 1992). Stagnating wages and changes in welfare programs (principally, restrictive eligibility requirements and erosion of benefits) account for increasing poverty among families. In the median state, a minimum-wage worker would have to work 83 hours each week to afford a two-bedroom apartment at 30% of his or her income, which is the federal definition of affordable housing (Kaufman, 1997). Until its repeal in August 1996, the largest cash assistance program for poor families with children was the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. Between 1970 and 1994, the typical state's AFDC benefits for a family of three fell 47%, after adjusting for inflation (Greenberg and Baumohl, 1996). The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 repealed the AFDC program and replaced it with a block grant program called Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). Current TANF benefits are below the poverty level in every state, and it most states they are below 75% of the poverty level. In 49 states and 357 metropolitan areas, the entire maximum TANF grant level does not fully cover the Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom apartment (Kaufman, 1997).1 Thus, welfare benefit levels have not kept up with increases in the cost of rent and therefore do not provide families with adequate allowances for housing.

The shrinking supply of affordable housing is another factor underlying the growth in family homelessness. The gap between the number of affordable housing units and the number of people needing them is currently the largest on record, estimated at 4.7 million units (Lazere, 1995). The affordable housing crisis has had a particularly severe impact on poor families with children. Families with children represent 40% -- the largest group -- of households with "worst case housing needs" (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 1998). Households with worst case housing needs pay over half their incomes for rent, living in severely substandard housing, or both. With less income available for food and other necessities, these families are only an accident, illness, or paycheck away from becoming homeless.

Domestic violence also contributes to homelessness among families. When a woman leaves an abusive relationship, she often has nowhere to go. This is particularly true of women with few resources. Lack of affordable housing and long waiting lists for assisted housing mean that many women are forced to choose between abuse and the streets. A 1990 Ford Foundation study found that 50% of homeless women and children were fleeing abuse (Zorza, 1991). More recent local estimates put the range of homeless women and children fleeing abuse at 25-35% (National Coalition for the Homeless, 1997).

CONSEQUENCES

Homelessness severely impacts the health and well-being of all family members. Compared with housed poor children, homeless children experience worse health; more developmental delays; more anxiety, depression and behavioral problems; and lower educational achievement (Shinn and Weitzman, 1996). In addition, homeless children face barriers to enrolling and attending school, including transportation problems, residency requirements, inability to obtain previous school records, and lack of clothing and school supplies. Parents also suffer the ill effects of homelessness and poverty. A recent study of homeless and low-income housed families found that both groups experienced higher rates of depressive disorders than the overall female population, and that one-third of homeless mothers (compared to one-fourth of housed mothers) had made at least one suicide attempt (Bassuk et al., 1996). In both groups, over one-third of the sample had a chronic health condition.

Homelessness frequently breaks up families. Families may be separated as a result of shelter policies which deny access to older boys or fathers. Separations may also be caused by placement of children into foster care when their parents become homeless. In addition, parents may leave their children with relatives and friends in order to save them from the ordeal of homelessness or to permit them to continue attending their regular school. The break-up of families is a well-documented phenomenon: in New York City, 60% of residents in shelters for single adults had children who were not with them; in Maryland, only 43% of parents living in shelters had children with them; and in Chicago, 54% of a combined street and shelter homeless sample were parents, but 91% did not have children with them (Shinn and Weitzman, 1996).

POLICY ISSUES

Policies to end homelessness must include jobs that pay livable wages. In order to work, families with children need access to quality child care that they can afford. But jobs and child care are not enough. Without affordable, decent housing, people cannot keep their jobs and they cannot remain healthy. Serious efforts to reform welfare would link cash benefits and job assistance to affordable housing. Preventing poverty and homelessness also requires access to affordable health care, so that illness and accidents no longer threaten to throw individuals and families into the streets. Only concerted efforts to meet all of these needs will end the tragedy of homelessness for America's families and children.

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