Rural and urban youth experience homelessness at about the same rate, but rural youth generally don't have as much access to support services or employment opportunities, according to a national study by independent policy research center Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago.
"The report, titled “Missed Opportunities: Youth Homelessness in Rural America,” found that 9.2 percent of young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 who reside in predominantly rural counties report experiencing homelessness in the last year, compared to 9.6 percent of their urban counterparts," Kate Queram reports for Route Fifty. "The difference was similar for younger teens between the ages of 13 and 17—in rural areas, 4.4 percent of that age group had experience homelessness in the past year, compared to 4.2 percent of their peers in more urban areas."
Researchers used data from the Voices of Youth Count, a nationwide policy initiative focusing on homeless people between ages 13 and 25. Chapin Hall defined "rural areas" as the U.S. Census Bureau does: a county in which more than half of the population lives outside an urban area, Queram reports.
Besides lack of access, another difference in rural homelessness is that the problem may not be as obvious, since homeless youth are more likely to stay with other people or sleep in a vehicle or outside than homeless youth in urban areas. Rural homeless youth are also about half as likely to stay in a homeless shelter, mostly because such services are rarely available in rural areas, Queram reports.
Another difference: "Rates of homelessness in rural communities are affected by issues specific to those areas, including higher poverty rates and fewer economic opportunities," Queram reports. "Fifty-seven percent of youth between the ages of 16 and 24 who were experiencing homelessness in small counties were neither attending school nor employed, compared to 46 percent in large counties. They were also more likely to have been in juvenile detention or jail (52 percent versus 43 percent) and were less likely to be employed (23 percent versus 35 percent)."
"The report, titled “Missed Opportunities: Youth Homelessness in Rural America,” found that 9.2 percent of young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 who reside in predominantly rural counties report experiencing homelessness in the last year, compared to 9.6 percent of their urban counterparts," Kate Queram reports for Route Fifty. "The difference was similar for younger teens between the ages of 13 and 17—in rural areas, 4.4 percent of that age group had experience homelessness in the past year, compared to 4.2 percent of their peers in more urban areas."
Researchers used data from the Voices of Youth Count, a nationwide policy initiative focusing on homeless people between ages 13 and 25. Chapin Hall defined "rural areas" as the U.S. Census Bureau does: a county in which more than half of the population lives outside an urban area, Queram reports.
Besides lack of access, another difference in rural homelessness is that the problem may not be as obvious, since homeless youth are more likely to stay with other people or sleep in a vehicle or outside than homeless youth in urban areas. Rural homeless youth are also about half as likely to stay in a homeless shelter, mostly because such services are rarely available in rural areas, Queram reports.
Another difference: "Rates of homelessness in rural communities are affected by issues specific to those areas, including higher poverty rates and fewer economic opportunities," Queram reports. "Fifty-seven percent of youth between the ages of 16 and 24 who were experiencing homelessness in small counties were neither attending school nor employed, compared to 46 percent in large counties. They were also more likely to have been in juvenile detention or jail (52 percent versus 43 percent) and were less likely to be employed (23 percent versus 35 percent)."
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