During President Obama’s press conference last week, a reporter mentioned that 1 in 50 children are homeless in America. He then went on to ask the president what message he had for families, “sleeping under bridges and in tents” across the country.

“This is one of those statistical assertions that you know is BS before you even set out to show it’s BS,” writes commentator Mickey Kaus at his Kausfiles blog at the Web magazine Slate.

The numbers come from a recent study by the National Center on Family Homelessness, in Newton, Mass., which Mr. Kaus refers to as an, “anti-homelessness advocacy group with every incentive to maximize the estimate of the problem.”

He takes issue with the charity’s figures for a number of reasons, including its counting as homeless someone who had one incident of homelessness over the past year. The study also counted as homeless families that, because of economic hardship, are living with friends or relatives (“doubled up”), as well as those who live in motels. Children in these situations make up a majority of those the study counted as homeless.

“In other words, right off the bat almost two-thirds of the study’s once-a-year ‘homelessness’ isn’t actually homelessness,” Mr. Kaus writes.

“It’s not as if homelessness isn’t a real problem, Mr. Kaus concludes. “An organization that gained a reputation for not hyping it might have real impact on legislation. But that doesn’t seem to be what the world of non-profit grantsmanship rewards.”

Mr. Kaus’s comments have bounced around the Internet, picked up by other conservative bloggers and commentators including The Weekly Standard magazine’s blog.

Rush Limbaugh, the radio host, called the 1-in-50 figure a “bogus statistic” on his program. “Would someone tell me the last time you saw a kid sleeping under a bridge?” the radio personality asked.

What do you think?