Homeless deaths rise in England, Wales

LONDON

The number of deaths among homeless people in England and Wales has risen to 778 in 2019, according to government figures released Monday.

The new number is 7.2% more than 726 deaths reported by the Organization for National Statistics (ONS) in 2018, as the figures are on constant rise for the past 5 years.

The most common causes for homeless deaths are drug poisoning (37.1%) and suicide (30.2%), according to the statistics.

The average age at death was 46 years for homeless males and 43.4 for females in 2019.

“Every death of someone sleeping rough on our streets is one too many,” said a spokesman for the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

“That’s why we are investing over £700m ($934 million) to tackle rough sleeping and homelessness this year alone – as part of our mission to end rough sleeping for good. And today we have announced extra support for rough sleepers and vulnerable people to help them recover from drug and alcohol dependency.”​​​​​​​