Without owning a home or having access to items such as medicine or food, the life expectancy of homeless people is very low. According to O'Toole and other authors, "several studies have reported life expectancy in the fifth decade" for homeless people that is significantly lower than that in the "eighth decade for the general public" (O'Toole and others). 'Toole). Most people don't realize how many homeless people there are in the world. An anonymous author writing An SOS From Homeless People explains: “The scale is enormous. Overall estimates for Europe as a whole and the United States each exceed 3 million people” (An SOS). With these numbers, it can be said that homelessness is obviously a problem if so many people are in poor health and have short lives. Not only are the homeless in poor health because they cannot afford medications and other things that improve their health, but they also face personal dangers while living in the Street. One article discusses some of the dangers homeless people face: "They are ten times more likely to be robbed than those who have housing" (O'Toole). Homeless people own very few, if any, possessions, and these statistics show that what few things they might own are often stolen. Homelessness also affects the general population, as homeless men and women occupy spaces throughout cities and are usually forced to beg from the public for food, water, and food..