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> In the United States, the number of homeless people varies from different federal government accounts. In 2014, approximately 1.5 million sheltered homeless p
by xg15 3y ago
> In the United States, the number of homeless people varies from different federal government accounts. In 2014, approximately 1.5 million sheltered homeless people were counted.[3] In 2018, the Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated roughly 553,000 homeless people in the United States on a given night,[4] or 0.17 percent of the population.
I don't quite understand what exactly the two numbers are measuring, but that sounds more like something between 1.5 million and 553,000 people. (At least assuming the number didn't somehow drop by a million in 4 years, which would be an absolutely spectacular improvement that I think we'd have heard about)
- Retric 3y agoThat 1.5 million includes people living in government provided housing designated for homeless people. Someone given temporary access to housing has shelter, but you need to keep providing them shelter so you need to classify them as a person in need of housing Aka homeless. You may also see the terms Houseless, Unhoused, or Unsheltered used to make the distinctions more clear. PS: There’s also a long continuum from owning a home with plumbing etc and living on a park bench. Governments want people in permanent spaces that provide adequate shelter and have a mailing address for a host of different reasons.