The average life expectancy of homeless people is only 48 years

Agence France-Presse reported on October 28 that according to a statistic released by the les morts de la rue ("Death on the Street" association) on the same day, the average age at which homeless people were recorded to die in 2020 was 48 years old, while the rest of the population was 79 years old.

According to "incomplete" data collected by the association, 587 homeless people died in 2020, including those living on the streets or in unstable homes, of which at least 1/4 died from violent causes (attacks, suicides, drownings, accidents). Of those 587, 24 percent had been wandering for more than a decade.

The association also counted people who had lived a wandering life for a period of time, and 81 people died in 2020, with an average age of 58. Epidemiologist Julien Ambard explains that the damage to health from street life experiences can affect a person for a lifetime, and later even with stable housing, people who have been homeless are relatively less healthy and have a life expectancy.

At the beginning of the outbreak, the government took emergency measures to provide some temporary accommodation, and the "Death on the Streets" association believes that temporary measures, although important, are not enough to reduce the deaths of vagrants and must be sustained. The Association recommends guaranteeing access to housing for vulnerable groups, in particular through the introduction of a guaranteed income for those aged 18-25, in order to prevent them from losing their housing.

The association said at least 531 homeless people died in France in 2019, with an average age of 49.

(Editor: Summer Rain)