Victims of the Recession: New Report Shows 1 in 45 Children Are Homeless Annually, a 38% Increase Since 2007

 More than 1.6 million -- or 1 in 45 -- children are homeless annually in America, according to a new report released by the National Center of Family Homelessness.  The number represents an astonishing 38% increase in homeless children since 2007.

“The Recession has been a man-made disaster for vulnerable children,” said Ellen L. Bassuk, MD, President and Founder of The National Center on Family Homelessness and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.  “There are more homeless children today than after the natural disasters of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which caused historic levels of homelessness in 2006.  The Recession’s economic devastation has left one in 45 children homeless in a year—an increase of 38% from 2007 to 2010."

Of course, these 1.6 million children are not just homeless, but suffer from hunger, poor physical and mental health, and missed educational opportunities. 

The report also found child homelessness to be the most severe in the country's poorest states, including Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas, at the very bottom. 

According to the report, child homelessness spiked despite an increase by more than 15,000 units in total housing for families in the past four years.