I usually spare some change if I'm approached by a homeless person. I have a home, a job, savings. I'm always warm and I always have food, as well as money for leisure items. However tonight I was approached in a backlane (alley) very close to my home by a homeless person asking me if he could use my phone. I declined by way of an excuse. It prompted me to think about how best to deal with homeless people. Any thoughts would be most welcome. Also, apologies if this isn't the right place to post.
If we study the facts and trends we will see the variables that influence someone being homeless.
A groundbreaking study by Just Facts has discovered that after accounting for all income, charity, and non-cash
welfare benefits like subsidized housing and food stamps, the poorest 20 percent of Americans consume more goods and services than the national averages for all people in
most affluent countries.
https://fee.org/articles/the-poorest-20-of-americans-are-richer-than-most-nations-of-europe/
California is home to nearly 12 percent of the country’s total population but, as of January 2020, 28 percent of its unhoused population,
according to federal statistics. More than half of the country’s unsheltered homeless population resides in California
Housing
A lack of affordable housing and the limited scale of housing assistance programs have contributed to the current housing crisis and to homelessness. Recently, foreclosures have also increased the number of people who experience homelessness.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates that the 2017 Housing Wage is $21.21 per hour, exceeding the $16.38 hourly wage earned by the average renter by almost $5.00 an hour, and greatly exceeding wages earned by low income renter households. In fact, the hourly wage needed for renters hoping to afford a two-bedroom rental home is $13.96 higher than the national minimum wage of $7.25.
Poverty
Homelessness and poverty are inextricably linked. Poor people are frequently unable to pay for housing, food, childcare, health care, and education. Difficult choices must be made when limited resources cover only some of these necessities. Often it is housing, which absorbs a high proportion of income that must be dropped. If you are poor, you are essentially an illness, an accident, or a paycheck away from living on the streets.
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the national poverty rate in 2016 was 12.7%. There were 40.6 million people in poverty. While the poverty rate has been slowly declining since 2014, a couple of factors account for continuing poverty:
- Lack of Employment Opportunities – With unemployment rates remaining high, jobs are hard to find in the current economy. Even if people can find work, this does not automatically provide an escape from poverty.
- Decline in Available Public Assistance – The declining value and availability of public assistance is another source of increasing poverty and homelessness and many families leaving welfare struggle to get medical care, food, and housing as a result of loss of benefits, low wages, and unstable employment. Additionally, most states have not replaced the old welfare system with an alternative that enables families and individuals to obtain above-poverty employment and to sustain themselves when work is not available or possible.
Other major factors, which can contribute to homelessness, include:
- Lack of Affordable Health Care – For families and individuals struggling to pay the rent, a serious illness or disability can start a downward spiral into homelessness, beginning with a lost job, depletion of savings to pay for care, and eventual eviction.
- Domestic Violence – Battered women who live in poverty are often forced to choose between abusive relationships and homelessness. In addition, 50% of the cities surveyed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors identified domestic violence as a primary cause of homelessness (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2005).
- Mental Illness – Approximately 16% of the single adult homeless population suffers from some form of severe and persistent mental illness (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2005).
- Addiction – The relationship between addiction and homelessness is complex and controversial. Many people who are addicted to alcohol and drugs never become homeless, but people who are poor and addicted are clearly at increased risk of homelessness.
https://nationalhomeless.org/about-homelessness/
(Every country has problems with homelessness and every country has different variables that promote homelessness. In America we see a few major issues.
- Homeless people choosing to be homeless
- Failed socialist policies
- Affordable housing
- Wages (jobs now often require years of experience or an expensive degree from college)
- Poverty (inflation, higher taxes, restrictive job opportunities, minimal wages, etc.)
- Lack of affordable health care
- Domestic Violence
- Mental illness (often being previously incarcerated or simply couldn't afford the medication to live a stable life)
- Addiction (drugs, alcohol, gambling, etc.)
- Not mentioned but a large percent is the prosfitutes and lgbt