Biggest Myths about Homelessness in America
nyu.eduAlternative summary
About 150,000 Americans are homeless in the way you worry about homelessness: Suffering from addictions and other mental illnesses, they sleep on the street, and stay there for months or years. Most of these homeless people would have been institutionalized before the de-institutionalization of the 1970's.
Another 400,000 have no more addictions or mental illness than the housed population. They sleep in cars, shelters, or other protected sites. Their homelessness lasts for several days or weeks and then they are able to obtain housing again.
Summary of details
66% of unhoused sleep in shelters, cars, or other protected sleeping sites. 33% sleep on the street.
84% are housed within a few weeks.
33% have a serious mental illness and would have been institutionalized before 1970's de-institutionalization.
About 30% have addictions.
In the world of homelessness, violence is usually perpetrated by the housed on the unhoused, not by unhoused.
About 75% grew up in the area where they currently are homeless.
There are more empty rental units than unhoused people.