Homelessness among elderly people
Description:
When thinking about homelessness, the elderly people issue doesn’t immediately come to our mind. Homeless elders, although increasing in numbers, continue to be a forgotten population. The poverty rate in 2008 (13.2 percent) was the highest poverty rate since 1997. Since 1960, the number of people below poverty line has not exceeded the 2008 figure of 39.8 million people.The poverty rate remained statistically unchanged for people 65 and over (9.7 percent). Both the poverty rate and the number in poverty remained statistically unchanged for people 65 and older, at 9.7 percent and 3.7 million in 20081.
Among this growing population of older adults living in poverty are people forced to grow old in the streets and in shelters, elderly persons who have recently become homeless or who remain at constant risk of losing housing. The number of elderly adults who have become homeless has increased around the county. An example of this increase has occurred in Massachusetts, where from 1999 to 2002, the number of people over 55 using shelters increased by 60% (HEARTH, 2007).
Type of Resource:
Fact Sheet
Publication Date:
2009
Location:
Washington; DC; United States