Each year, an estimated 4.2 million youth and young adults experience homelessness, of which 700,000 are unaccompanied minors, meaning they are not part of a family or accompanied by a parent or guardian. On any given night, approximately 41,000 unaccompanied youth ages 13-25 experience homelessness.
The University of Chicago also found that:
- One in 10 young adults ages 18-25, and at least one in 30 adolescents ages 13-17, experience some form of homelessness unaccompanied by a parent or guardian over the course of a year.
- 29% of homeless youth report having substance misuse problems.
- 69% of homeless youth report mental health problems.
- 33% had once been part of the foster care system.
- 50% of homeless youth have been in the juvenile justice system, in jail or detention.
- 27% of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) youth who are homeless reported exchanging sex for basic needs compared to 9% of non-LGBTQ youth who reported having to exchange sex for basic needs.
- 62% of LGBTQ youth report being physically harmed while experiencing homelessness while
- 47% of non-LGBTQ youth reported being physically harmed while homeless. The lack of a high school diploma or General Equivalency Diploma (GED) is the number one correlate for elevated risk of youth homelessness.
