Overview of Family Homelessness In Massachusetts

• 52% of people who are homeless in Massachusetts during a year are actually parents and children --much higher than the national average.

• In October 2006, more than 1,400 families were staying in the state’s emergency shelter system each night. This included nearly 3,000 children --- half of whom were school age and half of whom were preschoolers.

• Given these numbers the Coalition estimates that more than 3,000 families will be sheltered in state funded shelter during the course of the year.

• Unlike the common myths about homeless families, these are not young or large families.

• The average age for the head of household is 31 years and the average family size consisted of a mom and 2 children.

• 54% of the parents had at least a high school degree/GED or higher.

• These families were very low income – the average income for all families was only $573/month

• Working families faired better, but still were subsisting on only $1,232/month.

• In FY 2006, families remained in shelter, on average, for 6 months before finding permanent housing. In FY 2007, we expect that the length of stay will increase for many families, with the loss of affordable housing resources.