Before the start of the pandemic, Michigan's public schools identified 4,763 homeless youth living independent of parental support. These youth are homeless--living outside, in shelters, or bouncing from couch to couch. They are estranged from their parents, usually due to abuse, neglect, or parents' struggles with addiction, mental health…

This study provides one of the first causal estimates of the impact of housing on academic outcomes. While college students are too often dismissed as a privileged and healthy part of the population, researchers increasingly observe housing insecurity among college students. This problem worsened during the pandemic, underscoring the link between…

The following article outlines a longitudinal study tracking changes of the social support networks of 28 homeless families in shelter. Weekly changes in support networks of homeless mothers were tracked including 482 dyadic ties between mothers and supportive persons. Findings suggested that informal social support and persons who provided…

The welfare of American families improved steadily for over 20 years after World War II. After the War on Poverty of the 1960s, the number of people living in poverty fell, reaching its lowest point in 1973. During the 1980s, homeless families, including those living in the streets, in cars, and in shelters seemingly appeared out of nowhere. As…

This volume presents information from a social indicators project designed to shed light on factors affecting civic health in twenty-six communities where John S. and James L. Knight published newspapers and provided grants to improve quality of life. Seven chapters discuss research results: (1) "Listening and Learning" (e.g., growth of…