What Is Homeless?

Homeless people lack a permanent, adequate place to live. Homelessness may be a result of a variety of causes, including periods of unemployment or low wages, loss of public assistance benefits, deteriorating health conditions, and family dysfunction. People who experience a combination of factors, such as poverty, mental illness, and substance abuse often are at greatest risk for homelessness.

According to federal laws, a person is homeless if they lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence. The law defines “fixed, regular and adequate” as a housing situation that meets an individual’s needs in terms of location, security, affordability and quality.

In addition, individuals who are at risk of losing their current housing within 14 days or less are considered homeless under the law. This could include individuals who are in the midst of a foreclosure, eviction or repossession proceedings; a victim of domestic violence; someone who is fleeing from a war zone or natural disaster; and people who have been released from prison or hospital who do not have family support systems or resources to help them find new housing. People who are residing in emergency shelters, congregate (group) shelters and transitional housing also are considered to be homeless under the law.

Although many people have a stereotype image of what homeless persons look like, research and surveys show that there are several subgroups among the homeless population. These include individual adult men and women, families with children, adolescents and young adults, the elderly, and people living in rural areas.

A growing body of literature on the homeless population has developed since the early 1980s. While some scholars have described homelessness impressionistically, there is now a large and increasing body of research that provides more detailed information on the characteristics and circumstances of these individuals.

Currently, the majority of those experiencing homelessness are individual adult men and women. A substantial number of these are experiencing episodic homelessness, defined as having three or more separate episodes of homelessness in a year. A smaller number of people are experiencing chronic or prolonged homelessness, having been continuously homeless for one year or more. The number of people in this group has increased substantially in recent years, mainly as the result of a severe recession and the erosion of public assistance programs that provide both income supports and affordable housing vouchers.

In the United States, rents are rising faster than household incomes. As a result, even middle-income households are increasingly at risk for losing their homes to high-cost markets or to sudden financial crises. Families living paycheck to paycheck are especially vulnerable, and are just a few unexpected events away from becoming homeless. In fact, in the six metro areas highlighted in this report, the rate of increase in homelessness has been closely associated with rising apartment rental rates. These findings are consistent with the overall trend of rising rents across the country.