[scott_siskind]

Homelessness alone is only a small factor for that drop in life expectancy. Lack of social bonds is probably way bigger (of course, you probably don't end up homeless if you have strong bonds). There's ample research and evidence showing the lowered life expectancy of housed people with few social connections.

[DoreenMichele]

I wrote a different piece on the same site that talks about homelessness as social death.

Homelessness is not and has never been purely about a lack of physical shelter. Articles on the topic routinely make a distinction between "homeless" and "unsheltered homeless."

Plenty of homeless people find shelter for the night. So being literally out in the weather all the time is not, per se, the entire definition of homelessness and it never was.

There are many, many ways in which lacking a home -- a fixed address with a sense of belonging -- negatively impacts health.