KINGSTON, R.I. 鈥� May 18, 2026 鈥� A person asking for change on the corner or living in a makeshift dwelling outside is easy to identify as homeless or unhoused. But there鈥檚 a segment of the population without permanent housing that goes unnoticed.
Molly Richard, assistant professor of public health in the 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 , studies the homelessness crisis, including an overlooked form of homelessness called doubling up.
鈥淗omelessness is hard to define, and for many鈥攅specially families with children鈥攊t manifests as 鈥榙oubling up,鈥� or 鈥榟idden homelessness,鈥欌�� said Richard. 鈥淭o avoid shelters or the streets, people do whatever they can to stay with friends or relatives until they figure out housing of their own. The adult on the corner asking for change doesn鈥檛 represent the scale of the issue; that person is just the tip of the iceberg.鈥�
There are many forms of doubling up. Examples include a young adult couch surfing between friends鈥� homes, a mother and her children sleeping in one room at a grandparent鈥檚 house, or multiple working adults sharing an overcrowded apartment intended for fewer residents. Because doubling up is often an unstable or inadequate experience, it can lead to other forms of homelessness.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires every state to conduct an annual census of the unhoused population. Known as a Point in Time count, conducted on an evening toward the end of January, the tally only captures the most visible forms of homelessness, such as those in warming centers, shelters, and outdoor encampments. It does not include those who are doubling up.
鈥淏ecause the federal definition of homelessness excludes those who are doubling up, someone who is couch surfing is not eligible for most programs designed to address homelessness,鈥� said Richard. 鈥淪ometimes families have to decide to enter a shelter or stay in their car so that they become eligible for these programs.鈥�
To inform strategies to help those living doubled up, Richard and community partners developed a measure of doubled-up homelessness. Their estimates come from the Census Bureau鈥檚 American Community Survey (ACS), an annual representative survey of all U.S. households. Because a small percentage of the population is sampled every month and data is aggregated to represent period estimates, the ACS survey captures data for a rolling point in time compared to the HUD survey.
鈥淩esearchers, policymakers, and advocates use these data sources to understand the full scope of homelessness, the parts we can see and those that are unseen,鈥� said Richard.
Since publishing an article in the on 鈥淐ommunity-level predictors of doubled-up homelessness,鈥� Richard has worked with cities and states across the country to examine local doubled-up homelessness data. Her research also contributed to doubled-up information in the .
The report estimated that 94 out of every 10,000 people in the United States live doubled up, for a total of 3.2 million people. Of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., Hawaii, and California were tied for the highest rate of doubled-up homelessness, Rhode Island ranked 33rd, and Vermont had the lowest rate.
Richard recently in which she detailed the number of Rhode Islanders living doubled up and provided context for the information.
Based on the most recent ACS five-year dataset, an average of 5,641 individuals experienced doubled-up homelessness in Rhode Island from 2020鈥�2024, which was 4.6% of everyone living in or near poverty. In 2024, those figures were much higher than the five-year average鈥攚ith an average of 9,998 Rhode Islanders per day experiencing doubled-up homelessness, equating to 6.94% of the population living in or near poverty.
鈥淭he higher estimate in 2024 could reflect worsening affordability conditions,鈥� said Richard.
The National Alliance鈥檚 data comparing the cost of rent in 2023 and sheltered and unsheltered homelessness rates from January 2024 supported Richard鈥檚 theory. Rhode Island had the 12th highest rate of homelessness (22 out of every 10,000 people) and the state鈥檚 median gross rent was $961. In 2024, the state鈥檚 median rent rose to $1,418. Providence specifically had the highest increase in rents of any metro area in the nation.
According to Richard, addressing doubled-up homelessness should be part of broader plan to address homelessness, housing insecurity, and affordability. Recommended strategies include:
- Expanding definitions of homelessness to allow people living doubled up to qualify for city- or state-funded programs. Expanding eligibility can help households access support earlier, before experiencing the harmful health effects of living on the streets or in shelters.
- Offering rental assistance, flexible financial assistance, housing navigation, mediation and legal services (including eviction prevention), and other forms of short-term support to help people create a stable situation or find new housing they can afford.
- Producing more housing, preserving existing affordable housing, and protecting renters from steep rental increases to reduce the pressures that drive households to double up.
- Providing stronger employment opportunities, higher wages, and social safety net programs to help people maintain stable housing and reduce the likelihood of housing loss or overcrowding.
鈥淭hese strategies are complementary rather than competing approaches,鈥� said Richard. 鈥淟ong-term progress requires coordinated efforts across homelessness services, housing policy, and economic policy.鈥�