Facts and Figures on Homeless Children and Youth Approximately 1.35 million children in the United States are homeless every year. Homeless children get sick four times as often as children in middle class families. They go hungry twice as often as other children. They have more mental health problems than other children, but less than one-third receive treatment. They are prevented from going because of lack of transportation, frequent moving, no permanent address, and no medical or school records.
Homeless children repeat a grade twice as often as other children.
There are not enough shelter beds for every homeless person. Most homeless families are made up of a young, single mother and her two young children. A worker earning minimum wage would have to work 97 hours a week to pay the rent of an average two-bedroom apartment. The waiting period for public housing averages one to two years. For programs that help to pay part of a family's rent, the wait is even longer.