As Russkaya Germaniya notes, it cannot be said that all of them actually live on the street. Following its own methodology, BAGW includes in this number inhabitants of various types of shelters, temporary accommodation centers, and hostels.
The organization cites the constant increase in rent and the gradual impoverishment of low-income residents as the reason for the growing number of homeless people. It is no secret that it is becoming increasingly difficult to rent social apartments at an affordable price in Germany, and moreover, small and medium-sized cities do not make sufficient use of their legal possibilities to prevent the number of homeless people from growing at such a rate. According to BAGW's leadership, the country now needs to build at least 150,000 inexpensive social apartments.
The organization presents some of its data on those in need of housing. The majority are men (women make up about 25%). Two out of every three are unmarried or single. The housing problem also affects children and adolescents – they account for 9% in BAGW's statistics. About a third of those in need of housing have a foreign background. The Federal Working Group emphasizes that all these data are estimates, since no official statistics of this kind are maintained.
According to BAGW's forecasts, by 2018 the number of homeless residents in Germany will increase by another 61% and reach 540,000. However, it cannot be ruled out that these forecasts were made without taking into account the current influx of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa, so the final figure may be much higher.