The fastest growing segment of the homeless population is families.
There are 897 homeless family members (over 375 families) in Wake County, North Carolina. Family homelessness is growing at a rate of 11% per year in Wake County. In Wake County, land, new home, and apartment rental prices have risen faster (57%) than have incomes (34%) over the past eight years.
Over 11,000 households both earn below 50% of Area Median Income (AMI) and either pay over 50% of income for rent, or are “doubled-up” without legal tenure. There is a gap of 3,998 affordable rental units for households earning between 31% & 50% of AMI, which constitute 11% of the population. But households making less than 30% of AMI, which constitute another 12% of the population, suffer a gap of 2,670 additional housing units.
Facts about the Homeless
- The average age of a homeless family member is 4.
- Families are the fastest growing segment of the homeless population.
- Nationally, an estimated 1.2 million children are homeless.
- Domestic violence is the leading cause of homelessness in North Carolina.
- A poor child in the United States is more likely to live in a working family than to be on government assistance, and more likely to live in a rural or suburban area than an inner city.
- Today, a worker making minimum wage cannot afford fair market rent anywhere in the United States.
