Youth
Young people have a different pathway into homelessness, as well as different needs while being in homelessness, which require specific youth-oriented solutions. A particular group at risk of homelessness is youth leaving state care, because “aging out” of services (often at a critical time in life, when they turn 18) means losing housing stability if a proper transition into independent living has not been made.
Sergio Pérez Barranco
“Youth homelessness occurs where an individual between the ages of 13 and 26 is experiencing rooflessness or houselessness or is living in insecure or inadequate housing without a parent, family member or other legal guardian.”
While there are no comprehensive, Europe-wide numbers about the extent of youth homelessness, some Eurostat data suggests a heightened vulnerability among young people, compared to other age groups. For example, the overcrowding rate for young people aged 15-29 years stood at 26.0% in 2023, which was 9.2 pps higher than the overcrowding rate for the population overall (16.8%) (Source: Eurostat).
Likewise, 14.8% of people aged 16 to 29 in 2023 reported having experienced renting difficulties in the previous 12 months. (Source: Eurostat) This number increased to 22.1% for those young people at risk of poverty and social exclusion. In fact, the highest risk of poverty or social exclusion in the EU was recorded for young adults aged 18-24 years (26.2%), in 2024 (Source: Eurostat).
FEANTSA Youth Study Sessions
The European network of coalitions to end youth homelessness
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