Examining the characteristics of pregnant and parenting, and non-parenting young adults experiencing homelessness living with and without their children

Pregnant and parenting young adults experiencing homelessness (YAEH) face many challenges related to complex circumstances that lead to parent-child separation. This can be emotionally taxing on YAEH who are already disproportionately burdened by mental health disorders. Little is known about the parenting and mental health support needs among YAEH, particularly surrounding parent-child separation. To fill this gap, cross-sectional data from the Homeless Youth Risk and Resilience Survey, collected from YAEH ages 18-26 across seven US cities, were analyzed in this study. Demographic characteristics, mental health, and risk indicators were compared between separated parents (n = 217) and those living with their children (n = 70), disaggregated by gender. Differences were assessed between YAEH involved in a pregnancy (n = 531) and YAEH with no pregnancy history (n = 768), disaggregated by gender. Results indicated important gender differences in the needs of pregnant and parenting YAEH, which can be used to guide interventions to support young families experiencing homelessness.