Luis Martinez (R) and his children, Jesse and Alicia speak to Reuters during an interview in Los Angeles December 19, 2011. The family is homeless and currently living in this office space at the Union Rescue Mission in the skid row section of Los Angeles. In a report issued earlier this month, the National Center on Family Homelessness, based in Needham, Massachusetts, said 1.6 million children were living on the streets of the United States last year or in shelters, motels and doubled-up with other families. That marked a 38 percent jump in child homelessness since 2007 and Ellen Bassuk, the center's president, attributes the increase to fallout from the U.S. recession and a surge in the number of extremely poor households headed by women. Picture taken December 19, 2011. To match story USA-HOMELESS/ REUTERS/Jonathan Alcorn (UNITED STATES - Tags: SOCIETY POVERTY)