Women Veterans Face Homelessness

Thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are joining over 100,000 veterans of other generations living on the streets and in shelters. Preliminary data from the VA suggest that Iraq and Afghanistan veterans make up 1.8 percent of the homeless veteran population. As of September 2009, more than 3,700 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have already been seen in the Department of Veterans Affairs' homeless outreach program. Of homeless Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, more than 10 percent are women. Not all homeless Iraq and Afghanistan veterans use VA services however, so the real number of homeless Iraq and Afghanistan veterans may be considerably higher. In addition, because the homeless population is transient, and because many people may experience homelessness off and on over months or even years, correctly measuring the homeless population is difficult.