Status: December 21, 2021 1:46 p.m.
Last year, according to estimates by homeless people in Germany, there were 256,000 people without a regular apartment of their own – around a fifth of them lived on the street. The situation has probably worsened because of the pandemic.
In 2020, 256,000 people in Germany lived without their own apartment with a rental agreement. Of these, around 45,000 were homeless. This was announced by the Federal Homeless Aid Association. In 2018, 237,000 homeless were counted.
In addition, there would be around 160,000 refugees who would live in shared accommodation or other accommodations. In 2018 this number was still 440,000, but not so many refugees have come to Germany since then.
More homeless due to Corona
It is estimated that around 20,000 of the homeless are children or minors. Two thirds are men, one third women. Around every third homeless person does not have German citizenship. No corresponding socio-demographic data are available for the group of homeless recognized refugees.
Due to the corona pandemic, there are more homeless and people without their own apartment, estimates the federal working group. Many aid organizations should have reduced their offers of accommodation and advice, said managing director Werena Rosenke.
Single and large couples
Most people without their own apartment are single, it said. In particular, low-income one-person households, single parents and large couples are threatened with homelessness.
There was a lack of particularly cheap apartments in Germany for this group, as well as for single women. Rosenke emphasized: “With 100,000 social housing per year – as promised by the traffic light government – the lack of affordable housing cannot be adequately counteracted. In addition to social housing, a further 100,000 affordable housing will be needed.”