| Who are the Hidden Homeless? |
Dec. 24, 2009
The hidden homeless make up about 80 percent of those in Canada without a place to call home. This is a serious problem. These are adults, youth, families and seniors who do not have a bed to go home to at night. They often move from one friend’s or relative’s home to another, sleeping on couches or floors. Every community across our country has homeless people even if you have never seen them on the street.
10 FACTS ABOUT THE HIDDEN HOMELESS
1. Most homeless people don’t live on the street. More than 80% of Canada’s homeless are improperly housed or on the verge of eviction. Many are sleeping in temporary beds – with friends or relatives, in church basements, in welfare motels, in abandoned buildings and vehicles, and in other sites away from the public eye.
2. About 1 in 7 users of shelters across Canada is a child. Compared to children with permanent homes, homeless children suffer more from lack of educational opportunities, infection, obesity, anemia, injuries, burns, developmental delays and incomplete immunization; youth suffer more injuries, sexually transmitted diseases, mental health problems and pregnancies.
3. Families generally do not stay on the street, but couch-surf with friends or family members. About three-quarters of the homeless/unstably housed families in the CRD are headed by females and half of the children are preschool age. Most families facing a housing crisis are transitioning from violence, eviction or unaffordable rent, and substandard or unaffordable housing.
4. Women generally earn less than men and are more vulnerable to becoming homeless.
5. Newcomers to the rental housing market, especially young people, immigrants and refugees, are often required to rent housing they cannot afford. They are often one pay cheque away from eviction.
6. Many seniors on fixed incomes face eviction due to increased rents and taxes. Ensuring seniors have adequate and appropriate housing prevents them from being part of the hidden homeless and ending up visibly homeless or in hospitals.
7. Young people are also part of our hidden homeless. Many homeless youth are living in shelters or rooming with friends – many are transitioning from abuse.
8. The working poor, often single parents with young children, end up living in crowded housing as they are unable to afford a decent place to live while feeding and clothing their children.
9. The hidden homeless are at risk of long-term physical and emotional harm. The longer anyone remains homeless, the greater the social and economic costs.
10. As a society we all pay for the tragedy of homelessness.
Source: Raising the Roof –The Hidden Homeless www.hiddenhomeless.ca
