Government's zero-homelessness pledge undermined by chronic shelter funding gaps
Government's child homelessness target undercut by chronic shelter program underfunding, inspectorates confirm.
Event / Society
France Child Homelessness Crisis
Unicef and solidarity organizations document child homelessness in France with at least 2,355 children lacking emergency shelter and 14 child deaths in 2025, prompting calls for policy reform and housing investment.
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2026-08-26 to 2026-11-08 · UTC publication dates
Coverage begins 26 Aug, 15:35 UTC
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What happened
At least 2,355 children in France lack emergency shelter
At least 2,355 children, including 514 under age three, remained without housing solutions after contacting 115, France's emergency number for homeless persons. The figure represents a 9% increase compared to 2025 and a 42% increase since 2022, when the government reaffirmed its goal of zero children sleeping on the streets.
Unicef France and solidarity federations publish homelessness barometer
Unicef France and the Fédération des acteurs de la solidarité (FAS) published a barometer documenting the number of children sleeping on streets in France due to insufficient emergency shelter capacity.
French government set zero child homelessness target in 2022
The French government reaffirmed its objective of achieving zero children sleeping on the streets in 2022, a goal that has become increasingly distant as child homelessness has risen significantly since that time.
14 children under four died on streets of France in 2025
Fourteen children under four years old and twelve adolescents aged 15-18 died on the streets of France during 2025, according to data from Unicef France and the FAS.
Three French government inspectorates report chronic underfunding of emergency shelter program
A report published in July 2025 by three government inspectorates found that France's emergency shelter program suffers from chronic underfunding and management deficits that prevent it from meeting all shelter requests.
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2 alternative perspectives
France confronts scale of child homelessness crisis
France's homelessness barometer shows 2,355 children lack emergency shelter; 14 under-fours died on streets in 2025.