Living without permanent, long-term housing creates a number of stressors
for children and families, but being homeless can be particularly detrimental
to the healthy development of young children. The National Center on
Family Homelessness reports that more than 1.6 million children – or one in
45 children – were homeless annually in America between 2006 and 2010. It
is estimated that 40 percent of homeless children, or roughly 640,000 over
that timeframe, were under the age of six. 12 This brief highlights the effects
of homelessness on children, with a particular emphasis on young children,
and notes several policies and practices that could help mitigate negative
outcomes.