Homeless people often look older due to premature aging (weathering) caused by extreme stress, poor nutrition, lack of hygiene, sleep deprivation, and constant exposure to harsh elements, leading to accelerated physical decline, chronic health issues, and geriatric conditions appearing decades earlier than in housed individuals, notes Association of Health Care Journalists, HuffPost, Invisible People. A 50-year-old homeless person might have the physical ailments of an 80-year-old, with higher rates of cognitive impairment, falls, visual problems, and difficulty with daily activities, says Invisible People, UCSF.
The unhoused population's average life expectancy is 15 to 20 years lower than their housed counterparts. The average age of life expectancy when homeless is 48 years, according to Health Care for the Homeless. Unhoused individuals are also twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke.
Our clients have often faced overlapping challenges, like poor mental and physical health, substance use issues, social isolation, unstable family relationships and trauma. Social stigma makes sleeping rough more likely, and even more dangerous.
Homelessness and Age
The average age of adults experiencing homelessness is 45 years. The average age of unaccompanied homeless youth (aged 24 and below) is 18 years. The average age of older adults (aged 50 and above) experiencing homelessness is 66 years.
Many people disrespect or ignore homeless people because a combination of psychological, social, structural, and situational forces shape perceptions and behavior. These forces operate together rather than from a single cause.
Ongoing issues with mental disorders such as affective and anxiety disorders, substance abuse and schizophrenia are elevated for the homeless.
Through out the 56 days, the Council has a duty to work with you to take reasonable steps to secure accommodation. After the 56 days the Council may be satisfied that they have done everything it can to help you find accommodation.
Drug and alcohol overdose continued to be the leading cause of death among unhoused individuals in 2023, accounting for 45% of all deaths. Overdose was the leading cause of death among males and females, and among White, Latino, Black, Asian, and American Indian/Alaska Native people experiencing homelessness.
This is particularly an issue for youth and women, especially those with children. Women who experience violence or live in poverty are often forced to choose between abusive relationships and homelessness. Young people who are victims of sexual, physical or psychological abuse often end up experiencing homelessness.
Throughout their lives, late baby boomers like Mr. Forrest — people born from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s — have suffered homelessness at uniquely high rates, for reasons many and varied. Their sheer numbers ensured they came of age facing fierce competition for housing and jobs.
Living with Disabilities
For example, people experiencing homelessness are five times more likely to have HIV, five times as likely to have hepatitis, four times as likely to have a stroke, three times as likely to have dementia, and twice as likely to have COPD.
In addition, venous stasis of the lower extremities (i.e., poor circulation because of varicose veins) caused by prolonged periods of sitting or sleeping with the legs down predisposes homeless people to dependent edema (swelling of the feet and legs), cellulitis, and skin ulcerations.
Homelessness poses profound mental and emotional strains. Daily stressors, such as ensuring personal safety and finding a place to sleep, coupled with the instability and trauma of being unhoused, can increase an individual's vulnerability to psychological conditions, distress, and substance use disorders.
Take Care of Your Basic Needs
Surviving homelessness means taking extra care to ensure your basic needs—water, food, rest, and basic hygiene—are met. This is the foundation you'll build on later. Ask around about local food banks, community fridges, or church meal programs in your area.
People living on the streets could wake up in a park, doorway or anywhere they feel safe. This is often early in the morning so that they can be alert as people begin to fill the city. At this time, it can still be dark and cold so many will begin their day looking for places to get warm, clean up or have breakfast.
Guardian Australia has spent a year investigating 627 homelessness deaths, revealing that Australians experiencing homelessness have an average life expectancy of just 44 years (45.2 for men and 40.1 for women) – more than 30 years lower than the median age at death for the general population.
Among the nation's racial and ethnic groups, Black Americans have the highest rate of homelessness. Fifty-four out of every 10,000 Black people in the United States were homeless during the 2018 point-in-time count.
For those living on the streets, it's not a question of how much to eat; it is more a necessity to eat whenever you can. Three meals a day is nearly impossible. Two meals are often unattainable, and for many, there are days with no food at all.
In recent years, the terms “unhoused,” “houseless,” and “housing insecurity” have gained popularity in public conversations about homelessness.
People who are homeless are often at risk of infectious diseases—like hepatitis A, B, and C, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS—due to compromised immune systems, poor nutrition and hygiene, and frequent overcrowding at shelters.
Globally, Ischaemic Heart Disease (Coronary Artery Disease) remains the world's biggest killer, but regionally, Dementia (including Alzheimer's) has recently become the leading cause of death in countries like Australia, surpassing heart disease for females and overall, while heart disease leads for males. Other top causes globally include stroke, respiratory infections, lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Although the causes of homelessness are many, economic hardship and lack of affordable housing are the two leading causes of homelessness.
The most common definition identifies three types of homelessness: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary homelessness: people without conventional accommodation. For example: sleeping rough or in improvised dwellings. Secondary homelessness: people who frequently move from one temporary shelter to another.
To get emergency housing ASAP, immediately call a national or state homelessness hotline (like Link2home in NSW, 1800 152 152 or Housing Connect in Tasmania, 1800 800 588), use online directories like AskIzzy or Shelterme, contact charities like the Salvation Army or Red Cross, and if escaping violence, call 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) for immediate referrals to safe places.
United States. While it is considered the leader of the world stage, the United States still has one of the biggest problems with homelessness, even when compared to more impoverished countries. With a homeless population per night of over half a million souls, the numbers are concerning.