For months, the financial press has joyously trotted out indicators of economic recovery: the official unemployment rate fell to 5.8 percent in October, the stock market is at record highs, the budget deficit has hit a record low. When 78 percent of voters said they were worried about the economy in midterm exit polls, some finance journalists puzzled over why Americans didn't appreciate how good things are these days. But as NPR and many others noted, the positive numbers don't square with many Americans' lived experience. Despite promising economic trends, millions of Americans can only find part-time work, many have gotten discouraged and given up looking for jobs, and for those who have work, wages are barely keeping up with inflation, NPR notes.

Here's another stark reminder of how terribly many poor Americans are doing, the stock market's impressive performance notwithstanding. According to a new report by the National Center on Family Homelessness, 1 out of every 30 kids in America is homeless. That's 2.5 million children living in shelters, on the street, in cars, or doubled up in unstable housing with family or friends (who are likely suffering financial or housing instability as well).

"The impact of the Great Recession has really lingered for poor families despite other positive turns in the economy," Dr. Carmela DeCandia, the group's director, tells AlterNet. "Poverty is the driving factor behind family homelessness." In 2013, 45 million Americans lived in poverty, struggling to survive on an income at or below $19,530 for a family of 3, according to government statistics highlighted in the report. 7% of Americans live in extreme poverty, with an income less than $11,157 for a family of four.

DeCandia says families headed by young single women are particularly at risk, given a lack of employment opportunities for women with kids. "Parenting alone, homeless mothers have sole childrearing, homemaking, and breadwinning responsibilities," notes the report. Families headed by single women are some of the poorest.

Then there's the harsh disparity between the minimum wage in many states and the high cost of housing. "Sometimes there's a threefold difference between the minimum wage and the income needed to get a two bedroom apartment," DeCandia notes. "Put all that together, and it's not really all that surprising that more families are ending up homeless."

In addition to their financial hardships, a shocking number of homeless women have been traumatized by violence and rape, leading to rampant depression and anxiety disorders. Studies show that up to 90% of homeless women have been exposed to traumatic events such as sexual abuse as children and rape and domestic violence as adults. "These experiences profoundly impact a mother’s ability to become residentially stable, find jobs that pay livable wages, form trusting relationships, parent effectively, and have good long-term health outcomes," notes the report.

Unsurprisingly, homeless families do not have access to quality mental health care. "There's a lot of difficulty in families accessing health care," says Dr. DeCandia. "Not all have health insurance. There aren't always enough providers in communities and there's a stigma. People don't want to reveal their homelessness for fear of child welfare involvement."

Their caretakers' trauma, combined with the insecurity of homelessness, which is traumatic in itself, can lead to lifelong problems for kids. "The impact of homelessness on the children, especially young children, is devastating and may lead to changes in brain architecture that can interfere with learning, emotional self- regulation, cognitive skills, and social relationships," the report's authors note.

Family homelessness was not a big problem in America until the 1980s, when cuts to social programs — particularly low-income housing — sent many poor families into the street. In the aftermath of Katrina 1.5 million kids experienced homelessness. That number dropped to 1.2 after some of those families were resettled. But by 2010, child homelessness had shot back up to 1.6 million kids, thanks to the Great Recession and the housing crisis, and rates of child homelessness continue to climb. According to the report, child homelessness surged by 8% nationally in 2013 alone. 31 states and the District of Columbia saw a rise in child homelessness between 2012 and 2013.