Explainer: What is America's 'hidden homelessness' crisis overlooked by government
"...In early 2024, a US federal count listed 771,480 people as homeless on a single night across the country - the highest number ever recorded - yet it included only those officials were able to locate.
It excluded millions who live in unstable arrangements such as cars, crowded rooms, weekly motels, or short-term stays with friends or relatives. These individuals form a much larger group that remains unrecorded - a phenomenon that has come to be known as "hidden homelessness" in the US - largely ignored and under-reported.
Young people are especially affected by it.
Each year, an estimated 4.2 million minors and young adults experience some form of homelessness, but most never enter shelters or meet outreach workers. Families forced into doubled-up homes, seniors living in cars or buses, and workers renting unsafe or unofficial spaces almost never appear in government data.
The size of this uncounted population shows that the real crisis is not the homelessness that is measured, but the homelessness that is ignored by the relevant authorities.
The visible homeless population represents only a small share of a much wider emergency. Hidden homelessness is the silent majority of the housing crisis, affecting people who remain unseen in records yet face severe hardship every day..."
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