Homelessness/Poverty Fact Sheet

Did you know that…

• Nearly 47 million people (1 in 7) in the U.S. live below the poverty line.
• 1 in 5 U.S. children under age 18, or nearly 15 million, live in poverty.
• The poverty line for a family of four is $24,300.
• A worker needs to earn $11.66 /hour to reach the poverty level for a family of four.
• There is no county in the country where the federal minimum wage is enough to afford a Fair Market Rent, one-bedroom apartment.
• Nearly 1.3 million school children were homeless in school year 2012-13.
• 51% of homeless children are too young for school and are not counted.
• The three most cited reasons for family homelessness are: 1) Lack of affordable housing, 2) unemployment, and 3) Poverty.
• Nearly 40% of all homeless persons are families with children, in NJ, they are more than 50% of all homeless persons.
• Homeless families are often hidden from our view—they are living in shelters, cars, campgrounds, or doubled up in overcrowded apartments.
• 17.6 million households now pay more than 50% of their income for housing.
• Only 25% of those eligible for federal housing assistance receive help, due to lack of funding.
• For every ten extremely low income households, there are only three affordable rentals available on the market.
• To meet the needs of low-income families, we need 4.5 million affordable housing units added to the current supply.
• In America, just over 16 million children live in households where they have to skip meals or eat less to make ends meet.
• Two-thirds of poor children live in families in which at least one family member works.

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Shared from: http://www.wcfamilypromise.org/home/fact-sheet