Forty-four percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) individuals age 13-17 reported being food insecure in the past month and 51 percent reported experiencing houselessness at some point in their life, according to findings from The Trevor Project’s April research brief “The Impact of Houselessness and Food Insecurity on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People.”
The brief covers the results of the nonprofit’s 2024 national survey on the mental health of LGBTQ young people, which had a sample size of nearly 17,000 participants ranging in age from 13-24. The survey was administered in the last third of 2023.
For young people ages 18-24, 56 percent indicated that they had experienced food insecurity in the last month and 49 percent had been houseless in their lifetime.
While 67 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds said they were able to meet their basic needs, just 33 percent of their adult counterparts felt the same. Economic security is a crucial element of American life that often correlates with health and wellness outcomes as it can impact, for example, access to quality health care.
Although a myth exists that LGBTQ people are financially better off than their cisgender heterosexual peers, according to the brief, that is not the case. “Not only are rates of poverty higher in LGBTQ+ populations compared to cisgender heterosexual ones (17 percent vs. 12 percent), there remain large inequities within LGBTQ+ communities,” the report states. “Notably, being transgender, a person of color, or bisexual are all factors found to be associated with higher rates of poverty.”
The Trevor Project found that economic insecurity is associated with worse mental health statuses among the population surveyed. “[Transgender and gender nonbinary] young people had 77 percent greater odds of experiencing food insecurity, 73 percent greater odds of ever having been houseless, and 67 percent greater odds of having unmet basic needs compared to cisgender LGB young people,” the brief states. “Food insecurity, homelessness, and unmet basic needs were all independently associated with increased likelihood of anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts.”
Further, “LGBTQ+ young people with a history of houselessness had over twice the rate of attempting suicide in the past year than those who have never been houseless (24 percent vs. 9 percent),” according to the brief.
The organization, which focuses on suicide prevent for LGBTQ youth, said that recognizing the far-reaching implications of economic insecurity will be key to addressing the issue.
“This framing allows us to broaden our perspective about what constitutes effective mental health intervention; programs and policies that target economic security can yield mental health improvements,” according to the brief. “Economic interventions specific to LGBTQ+ young people can take on many forms, such as anti-discrimination laws in the workplace or gender-expansive equity in health insurance. Notably, the most profound interventions to lower rates of economic insecurity, such as food and nutrition assistance, housing assistance, or basic cash assistance have all been shown to be beneficial for the entire population, especially younger people, when implemented.”
Read the brief here.
