At least 400,000 minors are homeless in the European Union, according to associations

The number of children on the streets, “emergency sheltered and cared for in centres dedicated to homeless people can be estimated at 399,561” in all 28 countries, specifies a report published in France by the Abbé Pierre Foundation.

Alarming figure. At least 400,000 minors are homeless in the European Union and the United Kingdom, and millions more are poorly housed, according to an estimate published Thursday, September 19 by the European Federation of Associations Working with Homeless People.

The number of children on the streets, “emergency accommodation and care in centres dedicated to homeless people can be estimated at 399,561” in all 28 countries, specifies this report published in France by the Abbé-Pierre Foundation.

“It’s a chilling figure, it’s a whole generation preparing for a more or less fragile future”Sarah Coupechoux, Europe project manager at the Abbé-Pierre Foundation, emphasizes to AFP. “This is not without consequences for health, access to care, access to education”she adds.

“There is real concern about what will become of these children, and how they will be able to build themselves in the coming years with living conditions such as these.”

Sarah Coupechoux, Europe project manager at the Abbé-Pierre Foundation

to AFP

To establish their estimate, the authors of the report specify that they studied the censuses of homeless children carried out in each country with this type of data. In 2023, nearly 14.5 million European children lived in housing with leaks, damp foundations or mold, mention the authors of the 2024 edition of the report “Looking at poor housing in Europe”.

In the European Union, a quarter of minors and more than a fifth of children under 6 years old were living in overcrowded housing in 2023. And more than five million households with children were in “the financial inability to maintain their homes at an adequate temperature”.

For the authors of the report, “only profound structural changes”such as capping rents or producing affordable housing for families, “will help to stop” child homelessness and poor housing.

In total, all age groups combined, the report estimates the number of people on the streets, in emergency accommodation and in care in reception centres in Europe at 1.2 million, an increase over one year (895,000 in 2022) mainly due to “better counting” in several countries.