About one in five Americans currently homeless served in the military, with the vast majority suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
A 2012 study from Yale University concluded that 63% of male, and 77% of female homeless veterans suffer from PTSD and/or a mood disorder. Of these, more than 90% of men and 75% of women developed their PTSD as a result of exposure to combat.
By some estimates, homeless veterans represent between 20% and 25% of the overall homeless population.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness has said the overall number of homeless vets has declined this year. However, the number of female veterans living on the streets has more than doubled.
The Yale study characterized the typical homeless female veteran as “Black, in their 30s, unmarried, had been homeless less than twice in the last 3 years and never been incarcerated.”
-Noel Brinkerhoff
To Learn More:
Homeless Veterans Who Served in Iraq and Afghanistan: Comparisons with Previous Cohorts (Journalist’s Resource)
Homeless Veterans Who Served in Iraq and Afghanistan: Gender Differences, Combat Exposure, and Comparisons with Previous Cohorts of Homeless Veterans (by Jack Tsai, Robert H. Pietrzak and Robert A. Rosenheck, Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research)
Veterans and Homelessness (by Libby Perl, Congressional Research Service) (pdf)
For Homeless Veterans (Department of Veteran Affairs)
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