LIFETIME AND 5-YEAR PREVALENCE OF HOMELESSNESS IN THE UNITED-STATES -NEW EVIDENCE ON AN OLD DEBATE

A 1990 household-based telephone survey of 1,507 people was followed u p by surveying a subsample of those interviewed for the initial report . Results showed very high prevalence figures for homelessness, quite close to those found in the earlier survey. Moreover, using explicit a nd stringent definitions of literal homelessness and doubling up, most periods of homelessness were found to last for more than one month an d, particularly with regard to literal homelessness, to involve seriou s deprivations and violent victimization.