However, in 1995 one-fourth of the total homeless population were children under the age of eighteen, and homeless families with children comprised 36.5 percent of the population, with most of those families headed by women. Single males account for 46 percent of the homeless population, and single females account for 14 percent. About one-third of the homeless population suffer from severe and persistent mental disorders, and about 46 percent of all single homeless adults have problems with chemical dependence. There is an overlap, in that some of the mentally ill are also chemically dependent. They are younger, far less educated, and poorer than homeless families of only ten years ago.
People are homeless because they are poor.
When faced with choices of paying for housing, child care, health care, education, transportation, recreation, they face difficult choices. At least 20 percent of the homeless population are employed, but they're still homeless. The available and securable resources only cover part of necessary expenditures. Income inequality is a growing reality of American society. The difference between the two populations was principally education.