homeless, such things appeared to be the facts of life after living on the streets for any period of time.
Adult males continue to make up a majority of the homeless, but just barely. According to a detailed study conducted in sixteen cities by the National Health Care for the Homeless Program, 40 percent of today's homeless are women and children. Of this total, roughly 6 percent are lone children age 19 or younger, and 23 percent are lone women. Some are runaways, and some are victims of family violence. An additional number of women who are homeless are members of "family units" -- their children and/or husband are homeless with them. An estimated 22 percent of all homeless persons are members of family groups: more than half consisting of single parent units and the remainder being "intact nuclear families" (Wright, 1988, pp. 65-66).
The National Coalition for the Homeless estimated that the homeless population grew by an alarming 25 percent in 1986, and "that families with children represented the fastest growing segment within the homeless population" ("The Politics," 1987, p. 508). Such findings were supported by a study conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors in 1987. The results of surveys in major American cities showed that families made up over a third of the homeless in those cities, and that two-thirds of the homeless families were single parent units, usually headed by a single mother in her 20s or 30s (Irwin, 1987, p. 4).
Despite the numbers of women and children, and families, who have joined the ranks of the homeless, more than half of all homeless persons are single adults and a majority of these are male. A significant proportion of these are known to have problems with alcohol and/or mental disabilities. The figures are not fully consistent, but 20 percent to one-third may be alcoholics -- the "skid row bum" is still a factor, but the stereotype no longer fits the majority of the homeless. ...