Homelessness is always a sad thing, but it is even worse when it’s youth homelessness. New South Wales in Australia has seen a significant increase in the number of homeless children in the state.
This is a trend that has continued for over the last 20 years, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to let up anytime soon.
According to NDIS provider, The Samaritan Foundation, as many as 26,000 Australian children are living under homeless conditions each night and about 731,000 children in Australia live under the poverty line.
Many of these children often sleep in cars, friends’ houses, hotels, or on the streets outside.
Between 2015 and 2016, New South Wales homelessness organisations had helped over 18,400 people who were between the ages of 15 and 24 years old.
Shelters and homelessness service providers are seeing hundreds of more homeless youth requesting their help each year. As a result, the problem of youth homelessness is clearly getting worse instead of better.
Below are the top 4 causes of homelessness in Australia:
Escaping Abuse
An abusive household is a huge reason why many kids end up on the streets. They simply want to get away from the violence and arguing in their household so that they can find some peace and serenity in their lives.
The children are often the victims of this abuse, and instead of telling someone about it, they just run away because they’re too ashamed.
Family Troubles
Families that fall under hard economic times may become homeless because they cannot afford a place to live. Parents in this situation usually want to be providers for their children, but they simply don’t have the means to do so.
This forces the children to either become homeless with their parents or to become homeless on their own.
Abandonment
Parents who abandon their children or kick them out of the house at a premature age will cause them to become homeless.
There are many reasons for why parents might do this to their children, but if the children are too young, they won’t have the means of taking care of themselves.
Mental Health Issues
Something that doesn’t get talked about enough is children with mental disorders. A lot of homeless youth are suffering from these mental disorders. According some research (Johnson and Chamberlain, Are the Homeless Mentally Ill?, Salvation Army 2011) a disproportionate number of homeless people in Australia also suffer from some kind of metal anxiety, depression or mental disorder.
This makes it so much harder for them to get off the streets because they don’t have the mental capacity to land a job or get themselves cleaned up. Without someone stepping in to help them, they will stay homeless indefinitely.
Turning the Problem Around
A big reason why homelessness continues to trend is that these children don’t get the help they need fast enough. If they’ve been out on the streets for a few years or longer, it is going to be hard for them to ever reintegrate back into society.
Things, like going to school and getting a job, will seem too surreal for them to consider.
In New South Wales, the state government is looking to crack down on this problem.
Instead of letting homelessness service providers handle everything, the government and local communities are looking to help troubled youths early on before they even become homeless.
That way, they won’t fall into a hard life that they mentally can’t pull themselves out of.
Homelessness is always a sad thing, but it is even worse when it’s youth homelessness. New South Wales in Australia has seen a significant increase in the number of homeless children in the state.
This is a trend that has continued for over the last 20 years, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to let up anytime soon.
According to NDIS provider, The Samaritan Foundation, as many as 26,000 Australian children are living under homeless conditions each night and about 731,000 children in Australia live under the poverty line.
Many of these children often sleep in cars, friends’ houses, hotels, or on the streets outside.
Between 2015 and 2016, New South Wales homelessness organisations had helped over 18,400 people who were between the ages of 15 and 24 years old.
Shelters and homelessness service providers are seeing hundreds of more homeless youth requesting their help each year. As a result, the problem of youth homelessness is clearly getting worse instead of better.
Below are the top 4 causes of homelessness in Australia:
Escaping Abuse
An abusive household is a huge reason why many kids end up on the streets. They simply want to get away from the violence and arguing in their household so that they can find some peace and serenity in their lives.
The children are often the victims of this abuse, and instead of telling someone about it, they just run away because they’re too ashamed.
Family Troubles
Families that fall under hard economic times may become homeless because they cannot afford a place to live. Parents in this situation usually want to be providers for their children, but they simply don’t have the means to do so.
This forces the children to either become homeless with their parents or to become homeless on their own.
Abandonment
Parents who abandon their children or kick them out of the house at a premature age will cause them to become homeless.
There are many reasons for why parents might do this to their children, but if the children are too young, they won’t have the means of taking care of themselves.
Mental Health Issues
Something that doesn’t get talked about enough is children with mental disorders. A lot of homeless youth are suffering from these mental disorders. According some research (Johnson and Chamberlain, Are the Homeless Mentally Ill?, Salvation Army 2011) a disproportionate number of homeless people in Australia also suffer from some kind of metal anxiety, depression or mental disorder.
This makes it so much harder for them to get off the streets because they don’t have the mental capacity to land a job or get themselves cleaned up. Without someone stepping in to help them, they will stay homeless indefinitely.
Turning the Problem Around
A big reason why homelessness continues to trend is that these children don’t get the help they need fast enough. If they’ve been out on the streets for a few years or longer, it is going to be hard for them to ever reintegrate back into society.
Things, like going to school and getting a job, will seem too surreal for them to consider.
In New South Wales, the state government is looking to crack down on this problem.
Instead of letting homelessness service providers handle everything, the government and local communities are looking to help troubled youths early on before they even become homeless.
That way, they won’t fall into a hard life that they mentally can’t pull themselves out of.
