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Homelessness: A Data-Driven Learning Guide
Interpretation & Summary
Think about your answers to the application questions before you click through to the interpretation guide for help in answering them.
Who are the Homeless?
What percentage of the homeless are men? What percentage of the homeless population are White, Black, and Hispanic, respectively?
What percentage of respondents has graduated high school? What percentage has had at least some college?
What percentage of the homeless is working, either part time or full time? What percentage is unemployed?
What percentage of homeless men consider themselves 'family head' compared to women? On average, how many minor children do men have? How many do women have?
Homelessness and Health
Do most respondents report having been drug users before becoming homeless? Are there significant differences between the various racial groups? How does age relate to respondents' drug use before they became homeless? What percentage of respondents report currently using drugs? What percentage says they no longer use drugs?
What percentage of respondents are heavy alcohol users? What percentage does not drink at all?
What percentage of respondents reports being physically ill? Do more women report being ill than men, and if so by what margin?
How widespread are psychological problems among the homeless? What percentage of respondents report suffering from psychological problems?
Summary
The goal of this exercise was to gain a better understanding of who the homeless are and to explore the relationship between homelessness and various measures of health. Taken together the results show that most of the homeless in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area tend to be Black males, almost two thirds of the respondents have a least a high school diploma, and one third are employed. Almost two thirds of homeless women are mothers with children and large numbers of respondents have a lifetime history of substance abuse. Lastly, over two thirds of those who are homeless are physically ill and suffer from psychological problems.
CITATION: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research. Homelessness: A Data-Driven Learning Guide. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2009-04-16. Doi:10.3886/homelessness
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