This volume takes into account the difficulties created by the US census data being published in two separate categories: population and housing. It aims to give cross disciplinary investigations of population and housing an identity and a common name: housing demography. Essays commissioned especially for the volume address four main issues: household formation and composition; housing choices; housing construction and inventory change; and spatial patterns and consequences.

When the U.S. Census publishes its data for 1990, they will separate the information, as always, into two categories: population and housing. Too often, each category has been considered in isolation. Demographers have, for the most part, ignored the housing data, focusing instead on fertility rates and the structure of the household groups in which the vast majority of the population lives. Yet they have stopped short of investigating how the search for accommodation in housing units affects those households. Conversely, economists, geographers, and urban planners have explored the significant role housing plays in the national economy and in urban structure, but have rarely examined the demographic details of who lives in those units.

The population and housing census is part of an integrated national statistical system, which may include other censuses (for example, agriculture), surveys, registers and administrative files. It provides, at regular intervals, the benchmark for population count at national and local levels. For small geographical areas or sub-populations, it may represent the only source of information for certain social, demographic and economic characteristics. For many countries the census also provides a solid framework to develop sampling frames. This publication represents one of the pillars for data collection on the number and characteristics of the population of a country.

Chronic homelessness is a highly complex social problem of national importance. The problem has elicited a variety of societal and public policy responses over the years, concomitant with fluctuations in the economy and changes in the demographics of and attitudes toward poor and disenfranchised citizens. In recent decades, federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, and the philanthropic community have worked hard to develop and implement programs to solve the challenges of homelessness, and progress has been made. However, much more remains to be done. Importantly, the results of various efforts, and especially the efforts to reduce homelessness among veterans in recent years, have shown that the problem of homelessness can be successfully addressed. Although a number of programs have been developed to meet the needs of persons experiencing homelessness, this report focuses on one particular type of intervention: permanent supportive housing (PSH). Permanent Supportive Housing focuses on the impact of PSH on health care outcomes and its cost-effectiveness. The report also addresses policy and program barriers that affect the ability to bring the PSH and other housing models to scale to address housing and health care needs.