A little girl in the kitchen of her home in the village of N'Gorato, Cote d'lvoire.
Startling statistics reveal the worldwide scarcity of simple, decent affordable housing
Culled from exhaustive reports compiled by the UN, UN-HABITAT and Shelter, these coldest of facts demonstrate the urgency of Habitat for Humanity’s worldwide work. And yet the statistics are the smallest part of the larger story.
The numbers printed on this page cannot begin to adequately represent the millions of people in this world for whom decent housing is a sad struggle. Fathers, mothers, neighbors, friends — all seeking better lives for themselves and their families, better lives through better living conditions. The need has never been greater.
• Of the world’s more than 6.5 billion residents, more than 1.2 billion people live on less than US$1 each day.
• Worldwide, 100 million people are homeless.
• Each week, 1 million people flock to the cities, competing for jobs, housing and living space.
• In the world’s developing regions, 43 percent of the population lives in slum conditions.
• In the least developed countries, 78 percent live in slums.
• Three or four of every 10 non-permanent houses in cities in developing countries are located in areas prone to floods, landslides and other natural disasters.
• Any child living in inadequate housing has an increased risk of slow growth and is 10 times more likely to contract meningitis, experience respiratory problems or develop asthma.
• Only 12 percent of the population in the least developed nations lives in sturdy, permanent housing with safe water and basic sanitation.
• In urban areas alone, 1.1 billion people live in inadequate housing.
• By 2030, 3 billion people in poverty will need decent housing.
• In Latin America, families need 5.4 times their annual income to buy a
house. Families in Africa need an average of 12.5 times their annual income.
• Worldwide, 17 percent of houses have only one room.
• In the U.S. alone, more than 30 million families face overcrowded living conditions, live in severely inadequate housing or pay excessive amounts of their income for that housing.
