![517 kids under 18 were homeless in Malta in past 10 years](https://maltadaily.mt/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/homeweb.jpg)
According to the new study ‘Homeless Human Evolution’ by YMCA, a total of 517 children under the age of 18 faced homelessness in Malta in the past 10 years.
The most common age bracket from 2012 to 2022 was that of between 25 and 34 years old with a total of 762. This was followed by those aged between 18 and 24 at 683 and finally those between 35 and 44 at 593.
The study also revealed that, in 2022, the under-18 age bracket of 0 to 4 faced the highest risk of homelessness in 2022 with a total of 40, followed by 5 to 9 and 10 to 13.
‘This indicates that families are increasingly becoming at risk of homelessness, this can also be attributed to the post-pandemic recession, whereby the cost of living and rise in rent and property costs accompanied by many people having lost their job during the pandemic resulting in families not being able to provide, losing housing, and becoming homeless or roofless’ the study explained.
Meanwhile, the majority of people who become homeless are young men between 18 and 34 years of age, with a total of 208 males in 2022 and 152 females in the same year.
‘Gender distribution of people seeking shelter at YMCA is mostly male, standing at 63.4% between 2012 and 2022.’
In terms of nationality, 52.9% of people seeking shelter from 2012 to 2022 were Maltese whereas 47.1% were Non-Maltese.
In 2022, 50.13% of 367 referrals seeking shelter were Maltese, with 46.59% being Non-Maltese and the remaining of unknown nationality. The study noted how the most common nationality amongst referrals were Somali, followed by Libyan, Eritrean, British and Sudanese.
33.0% of people seeking shelter from 2012 to 2022 were European whereas 67.0% were Non-European. For the full report, please report to the YMCA official page.
#MaltaDaily