The Demographics of Homelessness - Duration And Recurrence

Most homeless people will become homeless again. The Urban Institute's 1996 study showed that 51% of all homeless persons surveyed in that year had been homeless before. The AGRM found in their 2004 survey that 65% of the homeless had been homeless before, 26% had been homeless once before, 18% had been homeless twice before, and 21% had been homeless three or more times before. (See Table 1.3 in Chapter 1).

Thirty-nine percent of homeless studied by the Urban Institute in 1996 had been homeless less than six months; six out of ten had been homeless for more than half a year. Sixty-two percent of the homeless surveyed by the AGRM in 2004 had been homeless less than one year; more than one-third had been homeless for more than a year.

These studies confirm that homelessness is usually a recurring experience and lasts for months at a time, suggesting that programs that help the homeless do not uniformly help clients solve the fundamental problems that can lead to life on the streets.