Report Confirms That 447,000 U.S. Toddlers Are Unhoused

Homelessness among newborns, infants, and toddlers skyrocketed from 2022 to 2023, impacting 446,996 children under the age of three, according to a new report, Eleanor J. Bader reported for Truthout.

Several factors contributed to the 2022–23 spike in unhoused children.

SchoolHouse Connection, in partnership with Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan, found a 23% increase in the number of unhoused children under age 3 since 2021.

Their situations were varied.

The report, Infant and Toddler Homelessness Across 50 States: 2022–2023, found that some families were staying in temporary shelters or short-term transitional housing, while others were living doubled up with friends or family, camping, or sleeping in cars, abandoned buildings, or bus or train stations.

“Between birth and the age of 3, a child’s brain develops faster than at any other time in life,” the report states.

“Tragically, an increasing number of infants and toddlers move through these critical years without a safe and stable home—an experience that jeopardizes their healthy development and future.”

But as horrendous as these numbers are, unhoused people and their advocates fear that if Donald Trump’s big, brutal budget bill gets Senate approval, the situation for unhoused families—and those teetering on the edge of economic precarity—will soon get significantly worse.

Erin Patterson, senior director of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships at SchoolHouse Connection, told Truthout that several factors contributed to the 2022–23 spike in unhoused children.

“The reason for the increase is no mystery given the lack of affordable housing throughout the country,” Patterson said.

“Add in the expiration of the COVID eviction moratorium and the lasting impact of the virus, and a perfect storm of factors impacting low-income families with young children unfolded.”