Every quarter, SchoolHouse Connection rounds up the latest research on education and homelessness. Here’s what’s new for Q1 2026: from the earliest years of development to college completion, new studies are shedding light on how housing instability shapes educational outcomes across every stage of life.

Early Childhood

Developmental Screening and Family Resilience for Infants and Toddlers in Homeless Shelters

The authors conducted structured interviews with the parents of 128 infants and toddlers staying in eight different family homeless shelters in a large urban area to understand children’s motor and language development.

Key findings:

• On average, infants and toddlers who participated in the study scored lower on development assessments of language and motor development than age-based norms would have expected. Infants and toddlers in the study were also gaining skills more slowly than expected based on these norms.
• Having a parent who screened positively for depression symptoms predicted lower gains in language skills, while having a parent with at least a high school education predicted higher gains in language.
• Having a parent who demonstrated positive parenting behaviors (as measured by a standardized measure of parenting behavior) predicted positive gains in motor scores.

Key takeaway:

Supporting parents in shelter through connecting to education and well-being supports, and creating child-friendly environments in shelter can help support the early development of infants and toddlers.

Child care usage among families with young children staying in homeless shelters

This study explored child care use among 150 parents of children aged birth through 3 staying in family homeless shelters. 

Key findings:

• Approximately one third (34%) of parents reported using at least one weekly nonparental care arrangement (e.g., child care provided by someone other than a child’s parent) – 18.7% of whom reported having a relative care for their child, and 27.3% reported using a center-based child care program. 
• Some parents (13.3%) also reported using multiple child care arrangements to meet their child care needs. 
• Consistent with other research on child care usage, child use varied based on child race and ethnicity, child age, and parental employment status.

Key takeaway:

There are opportunities to improve access to high-quality early care and education that meets the needs of families staying in family homeless shelters.

K-12

Adolescent Homelessness in the United States, 2023

Using data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), the authors both offer national estimates for the number of adolescent high school students experiencing homelessness and explore whether experiences of homelessness are associated with differences in health, behavioral health, and education outcomes.

Key findings:

• Over 3.4% of U.S. high school students reported experiencing homelessness during a 30-day period in 2023 on the survey, increasing 26% since prior estimates in 2021.
• Students who experienced homelessness were more likely to report health and mental health concerns including severe suicidality, risky sexual behavior, and having a substance use or alcohol use problem. 
• Students who experienced homelessness were also more likely to report having poor grades in school.

Key takeaway:

The number of adolescent high school students experiencing homelessness continued to rise into 2023. Connecting adolescents experiencing homelessness to supportive services and education supports may help to address health, behavioral health, and education outcomes.

The relationship between housing insecurity and adolescent academic outcomes: evidence from a 15-year longitudinal study

This study explored the relationship between housing insecurity defined as being evicted, doubling up because of financial problems, staying in a place not meant for regular housing , missing a rent or mortgage payment, or experiencing frequent moves (moving homes more than once per year), and four academic outcomes: failing a class, being suspended/expelled from school, grade point average, and experiencing trouble at school (i.e., paying attention in school, completing homework, and getting along with peers and teachers). The authors used data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study.

Key findings:

• Any experience of housing insecurity was significantly associated with worse academic outcomes.
• The timing, frequency, and type of housing insecurity experiences mattered for some academic outcomes (e.g., trouble at school, failing a class, and GPA), but the effects were not consistent across other academic outcomes. 
• Experiences of housing insecurity early in life had larger effects on students’ GPA and whether students’ had trouble at school than more recent experiences of housing insecurity – suggesting the potential for longer term effects of housing insecurity on students’ education. 

Key takeaway:

Any experience of housing insecurity can have harmful effects on adolescents’ academic outcomes, regardless of type, timing, frequency, and severity.

Higher Education

Combined effects of food and housing insecurity on academic attrition: Findings from a population-representative survey of urban Public University students

While previous research has demonstrated a relationship between food and housing instability with college attrition (e.g., dropping out or academic probation), this new study explores the cumulative impact of experiencing both food and housing instability concurrently through a survey of 3,160 CUNY students. The authors defined housing instability as being unable to pay or underpaying rent or mortgage, receiving a summons to appear in housing court, being unable to pay the full amount of gas, oil, or electricity bill, moving in with others due to financial problems, living with others beyond the capacity of the house or apartment (e.g., over crowding), having left the household due to feeling unsafe, or being without housing.

Key findings:

• One-third of students reported experiencing food insecurity, 38% faced housing instability, and 21% reported both food insecurity and housing instability.
• Findings demonstrate that both food and housing insecurity are associated with an increased likelihood for college attrition – and that there is an additive interaction for experiencing both at the same time. Students who experienced both food and housing insecurity were more than twice as likely to experience academic attrition compared to  their peers with secure access to food and housing.

Key takeaway:

The authors recommend pairing food and housing interventions together on college campuses to address the additive interaction on college attrition.

Beyond Earnings Premia: Debt-Adjusted Returns to Postsecondary Education

This study used linked administrative data on postsecondary enrollment and credit records for more than 22,000 individuals to explore the economic returns on completing a post-secondary degree. While not specific to students experiencing homelessness, this study provides valuable insights into the role of education on economic well-being.

Key findings:

• Loan payments accounted for 23% of gross earnings, on average, in the years following degree completion. However, the amount of gross earnings going toward loan payments declined over time.
• Even with loan payments, the study highlighted that having a postsecondary degree yielded substantial net earnings gains. On average, individuals who completed a post-secondary degree earned approximately $10,400 more than individuals who did not have a post-secondary degree. When income is adjusted to account for loan payments, degree earners will earn approximately $8,000 more than non-degree earners.

Key takeaway:

Despite rising costs of postsecondary education, completing a post-secondary degree can have long term economic benefits.