California Holds Steepest Population of Homeless Youth

Homeless man
“what’s in yer pocket” by Bride of Frankenstein licensed under CC BY 2.0

Source: Desert Sun

On any given night across California, there are at least 130,000 homeless individuals sleeping on the streets, according to an estimate from the Housing and Urban Development Department.

California has been identified as the state struggling with the largest population of homeless individuals that are unsheltered, holding at least 25 percent of the U.S.’s homeless population, and 70 percent of that population lives on the streets and not in local shelters.

Additionally, in the last two years, California has experienced the sharpest increase in homelessness and a huge part of that is skyrocketing prices for housing, where people are spending most of their paychecks on rent alone. A large portion of California’s homeless population is under the age of 25, and California also holds the nation’s largest percentage of unaccompanied homeless youth.

Read Full Story: Desert Sun

Justice & Poverty, News
Justice & Poverty, News