February 16, 2000
Homeless population has doubled
___WASHINGTON (RNS)--About one in 10 of the people living in poverty in the United States was homeless at least once during 1996, according to a new study by the Urban Institute.
___The study found that among the general population as many as 3.5 million people were homeless, compared to 1.8 million in 1987. Among those living above the poverty line, at least 2.3 million people were homeless at least once in 1996, the latest year for which data is available.
___The report also showed that the number of people who were homeless at any moment increased from an estimated high of 600,000 in 1987 to 842,000 in 1996.
___Children made up 38 percent of the nation's homeless in 1996 and comprised nearly 25 percent of those who benefited from services for the homeless, such as meals or shelter.
___A lack of affordable housing is partly to blame for the rising numbers of homeless, according to the study. Yet services available to the homeless nationwide--such as soup kitchens and shelters--have increased.
___Seattle, Sacramento and Oklahoma City were among the cities that offered the most services for the poor on a per-person basis, the Urban Institute reported, while Houston, Miami and Birmingham, Ala., offered the least.
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