Child Homelessness On The Rise

1.6 million kids in America are sleeping in the street

According to a new report from the National Center on Family Homelessness, one in 45 children (1.6 million) in America are homeless. This is a 33% increase from 2007 when 1.2 million kids were out in the street.

This news accompanies equally devastating news from the Department of Housing and Urban Development which recently reported a 28% increase in homeless families since 2007, bringing the total to 168,000 in 2010.

Education Department data reveals that children are doing the worst in Southern states where poverty is high. States like Arizona, California and Nevada that took huge foreclosure hits also have have high child homelessness rates. But the kids living in Vermont, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and Maine are doing A-ok. 

Ellen Bassuk, president of the NCFH calls the numbers "absurdly high." 

"What we have new in 2010 is the effects of a man-made disaster caused by the economic recession," she says. "We are seeing extreme budget cuts, foreclosures and a lack of affordable housing."

One small, but still bleak, bit of positive news is that household headed by veterans saw their homelessness rates fall 12% since 2010.