Children experience a number of negative educational, social and health consequences as a result of being homeless. These can include early school leaving, behavioural problems, lack of parental affection and support, and psychological problems such as depression and anxiety, with the effects of homelessness often persisting beyond the period of homelessness.
The causes of homelessness are complex and may include economic factors such as poverty, unemployment, increased housing costs, and unstable home environments caused by domestic violence. Factors that may lead to homelessness among children include family problems such as neglect, abuse, conflict, and drug and alcohol problems.
For all indicator displays, where all years of data are comparable over time an ‘All’ category will be provided as an option in the ‘Year’ drop down display. If only a selection of specific years are comparable, these years (e.g. 2017 to 2019) will be provided as an option under ‘Year’ and ‘All’ will not be an option. See the footnotes for this indicator in the supplementary tables hyperlink below for further information.