Skip to main content
Log in

One-year rates of public shelter utilization by race/ethnicity, age, sex and poverty status for New York City (1990 and 1995) and Philadelphia (1995)

  • Published:
Population Research and Policy Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study calculates public homeless shelter utilization rates by sex, race/ethnicity and age status for New York City (1990 and 1995) and Philadelphia (fiscal year 1995) to determine the relative risk for shelter use among different demographic groups in these cities. The resulting shelter utilization rates reveal large disparities among age groups and across racial/ethnic groups, as well as showing different trends in shelter utilization among the two cities. Among the results reported, the rate of shelter utilization declined by 11% in New York City over this period, while the overall utilization rate in Philadelphia has increased to where it is 40% higher than that of New York City. Children under age 5, at a rate of 0.0248, have the highest shelter utilization rate among the age groups studied and the overall rate for blacks is 2.3 times that of the overall population. And while shelter utilization rates among single men have decreased by 30% in New York City, a similar decrease has not occurred among women of early childbearing ages or among young children. Finally, policy implications related to these findings are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Blasi, G. (1994). And we are not seen: Ideological and political barriers to understanding homelessness, American Behavioral Scientist 37(4): 563–586.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burt, M. (1992). Practical methods for counting homeless people: A manual for states and local jurisdictions. Washington, DC: US Department of Housing and Urban Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burt, M. (1994). Comment, Housing Policy Debate 5(2): 141–152.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burt, M. & Cohen, B. (1989). America's homeless: Numbers, characteristics, and programs that serve them. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coder, J. (personal communication). Special tabulation of persons in Group Quarters by type and by race, sex and age in New York City and Philadelphia, 1990 Census; 15 July 1996. US Bureau of the Census.

  • Culhane, D. P. (1992). The quandaries of shelter reform: An appraisal of efforts to 'manage' homelessness, Social Service Review 66(3): 428–440.

    Google Scholar 

  • Culhane, D. P., Dejowski, E., Ibanez, J., Needham, E., & Macchia, I. (1994). Public shelter admission rates in Philadelphia and New York City: The implications of turnover for sheltered population counts, Housing Policy Debate 5(2): 107–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Culhane, D. P., Koppel, M., Metraux, S. & Wong, Y. L. (1997). Mitigating the impact of state welfare cuts for single adults: the implementation and utilization of the homelessness pre-vention pilot project in the City of Philadelphia. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, School of Social Work.

    Google Scholar 

  • Culhane, D. P., Lee, C. M. & Wachters, S. (1996). Where the homeless come from: A study of the prior address distribution of families admitted to public shelters in New York City and Philadelphia, Housing Policy Debate 7(2): 327–365.

    Google Scholar 

  • Culhane, D. P. & Metraux, S. (1997). Where to from here? A policy research agenda based on the analysis of administrative data. In: D. P. Culhane & S. P. Hornburg (eds.), Understand-ing Homelessness: New Policy and Research Perspectives, pp. 341–361. Washington, DC: Fannie Mae Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Culhane, D. P., Metraux, S. & Wachter, S. (1998). Homelessness and public shelter provision in New York City. In: M. Schill (ed.), Housing and Community Development in New York City: Facing the Future. Albany: SUNY Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennis, M. L. (1993). Coverage of a service-based methodology: Findings from the DC _ MADS Homelessness Study. Paper presented at Towards Census 2000: Research Issues for Improving Coverage of the Homeless Population. Arlington, VA, 10 November 1993.

  • Hogan, H. (personal communication). Unpublished table containing rates for adjusting for Census Bureau enumeration over and under-counting. 6 June 1996.

  • Hogan, H. (1992). The 1990 post-enumeration survey: An overview, Journal of the American Statistical Association 46; 261–269.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopper, K. & Milburn, N. G. (1996). Homelessness among African Americans: A historical and contemporary perspective. In: J. Baumohl (ed.), Homelessness in America, pp. 123–131. Phoenix: Oryx Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Link, B. G., Susser, E., Stueve, A., Phelan, J., Moor, R. E. & Struening, E. (1994). Lifetime and five-year prevalence of homelessness in the United States, American Journal of Public Health 84: 1907–1912.

    Google Scholar 

  • Massey, D. S. & Denton, N. A. (1993). American Apartheid. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Novacek, J., Raskin, R., Behlinger, D., Rybicki, S., Nail, C. & Firth, L. (1991). Citizen's Opinions about Tulsa's Homeless. Tulsa, OK: Tulsa Institute of Behavioral Sciences.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stegman, M. (1992) Housing in New York City: Results of the Housing and Vacancy Survey. New York City: Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Toro, P. A. & McDonell, D. M. (1992). Beliefs, attitudes and knowledge about homelessness: A survey of the general public, American Journal of Community Psychology 20(1): 53–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • US Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census (1992). 1990 Census of Population and Housing – Guide (Part A). Washington, DC: United States Department of Commerce.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weitzman, B. C. (1989), Pregnancy and childbirth: Risk factors for homelessness?, Family Planning Perspectives 21(4): 175–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, W. J. (1996). When Work Disappears. New York: Knopf.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Culhane, D., Metraux, S. One-year rates of public shelter utilization by race/ethnicity, age, sex and poverty status for New York City (1990 and 1995) and Philadelphia (1995). Population Research and Policy Review 18, 219–236 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006187611323

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006187611323

Navigation